Recy Taylor died on December 28, 2017 at the age of 97.

In September 1944, Recy Taylor, a newly married 25-year old sharecropper was walking home from church with her friend Fannie Daniel and Daniel’s teenage son. The trio was accosted by a car with Hugo Wilson behind the wheel. One of the passengers, US Army Private Herbert Lovett, drew a gun and began yelling false, hate-filled and racist accusations at Recy. He forced her into the car and then sped away. Lovett guided the vehicle to a secluded, wooded area where he focred Recy to undress. One by one, Lovett, Wilson and four of the other men brutally raped Recy as she pleaded for mercy. The sixth man, Billy Howerton, recognized Recy and did not participate in the attack.

Fannie Daniel reported Recy’s abduction to the police. Wilson was questioned and fined $250, but no one else was called for interrogation, despite the word of three eyewitness. The black community of Abbeville, Alabama was outraged. The NAACP of Montgomery sent an investigator, Rosa Parks, to Abbeville. Parks’ investigations led her to form a defense team with support from national labor unions, African-American organizations, and women’s groups.

The trial took place in the first week of October 1944, with an all-white, all-male jury. However, none of the assailants had been arrested  and the Abbeville sheriff never arranged a police line-up. The only witnesses were Recy’s family and friends. The case was dismissed within five minutes. A grand jury indictment was needed to reopen the case.

In the meantime, Recy received death threats and her home was firebombed. The angry black community petitioned Alabama Governor Chauncey Sparks to launch an investigation. It came to light that the Abbeville sheriff made false statements regarding arrests. Interviews with the assailants yielded wild stories of consensual sex and that Recy was a known prostitute. Even after rapist Joe Culpepper admitted that he and his cohorts were “looking for a woman to attack,” a county jury still failed to present an indictment.

Recy and her family lived in fear for two decades in Abbeville, before moving to Florida. After a divorce and the accidental death of her daughter, failing health brought Recy back to Abbeville.

In 2011, the Alabama House of Representatives apologized to Recy Taylor on behalf of the state for its failure to prosecute her attackers. The apology was delivered by Abbeville Mayor Ryan Blalock as Recy visited Rock Hill Holiness Church, the house of worship from which she was kidnapped in 1944.

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Jean Porter was one of those actresses that appeared in over three dozen films but you never knew her name. The button-cute, petite blonde was fourteen when she made her motion picture debut in an uncredited role in Song and Dance Man with Claire Trevor. She went on to land bit parts in numerous films throughout the 30s and 40s, including One Million B.C. as Carole Landis‘ sister and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. She signed with MGM and appeared alongside the studio’s top stars like Mickey Rooney, Esther Williams and Abbott & Costello. Several of her film roles showcased Jean’s singing talents, as well as her dancing ability. On television, Jean made guest appearances on Sea Hunt, 77 Sunset Strip and The Abbott & Costello Show.

On the set of the 1946 World War II drama Till The End of Time, she met director Edward Dmytryk, whom she would marry two years later. Dmytryk was named part of the “Hollywood Ten,” a group of writers and directors accused by the House Un-American Activities Committee of Communist activity and sympathy. Jean and Dmytryk, along with their children, moved to England to escape persecution. They eventually returned to the U. S. and, after serving minimal jail time, Dmytryk directed Left Hand of God, Jean’s final theatrical film.

Jean retired from show business in 1961, keeping busy with her family. She published a biography of Jess Stacy, a pianist in Benny Goodman’s band. Stacy was also a neighbor of Jean’s. Jean regularly made appearances at autograph shows and contributed to “Classic Images Magazine,” catering to film fans and their love of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Jean passed away in January 2018 at the age of 95.

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France Gall won the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest with “Poupée de cire, poupée de son,” penned by French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg.  It was the first non-ballad song to win the competition. The song, a sort of double meaning of the phrase “rag doll,” implied a Svengali-like power Gainsbourg possessed over his young protege, as well as the traditional implications of a child’s toy. The song’s popularity led France Gall to record versions in German, Italian and Japanese for international distribution.

In 1966, France recorded another song written by Gainsbourg called “Les Sucettes.” The song was wildly popular, due, mostly, to its risqué lyrics. “Les Sucettes,” on the surface, seemed to be a song about a young girl’s love of lollipops, but the lyrics are rampant with double entendres alluding to oral sex. France, a naïve 18-year old, did not understand the dual meaning of the song when she recorded it. She was mortified when she finally learned the truth about the song’s innueno. She shunned the press and stayed in hiding for weeks. Feeling betrayed by the adults that ran her career, she severed all ties with Gainsbourg and refused to perform any of his songs for the rest of her career, despite requests and their popularity.

Her song “Laisse tomber les filles” was rewritten with English lyrics by singer April March as “Chick Habit,” and was played over the closing credits of Quentin Tarantino’s film Grindhouse.  France’s former lover, singer Claude Francois, met with composer Jacques Revaux. He told of his failed relationship with France, inspiring Revaux to write “Comme d’habitude,” which was later rewritten with English lyrics by Paul Anka as “My Way.”

In January 2018, after a two-year battle with cancer, France died at age 70.

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Despite a surprisingly successful career, Jerry Van Dyke spent most of it in the shadow of his older brother Dick. His talents were often compared to Dick’s successes. Granted, Jerry made some questionable career choices, but he was an in-demand, working actor for the better part of six decades.

A budding stand-up comedian in his native Danville, Illinois, Jerry made a memorable splash in a first season episode of his brother’s sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show, playing, of all things, Dick Van Dyke’s brother. He went to make three more appearances on the show.

A guest appearance on The Andy Griffith Show led to an offer to replace the departed Don Knotts (who signed a five-film contract with Universal Pictures) as Mayberry’s deputy sheriff. He declined that offer, as well as one to star in the title role on Sherwood Schwartz’s new sitcom Gilligan’s Island. Jerry, instead, chose to star in the short-lived, often derided My Mother, The Car. The inane show, which lasted a single season, featured Jerry as a family man whose late mother is reincarnated as a 1928 Porter automobile. After My Mother, The Car was canceled, Jerry joined the cast of Accidental Family, another show that was canceled after 16 episodes.

Jerry was a frequent guest on popular sitcoms, including appearances on single episodes of Gomer Pyle, USMC, Good Morning World, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and even his brother’s new series The New Dick Van Dyke Show. He took a regular role on Headmaster in 1970, a new Andy Griffith project, but the series was canceled after only season.

He kept busy with live appearances in nightclubs throughout the United States, until 1989, when he took the supporting role of befuddled “Luther Van Dam” on the sitcom Coach. The series, which ran for a whopping nine seasons, earned Jerry four Emmy nominations. Jerry continued to land recurring roles on popular series like Charles in Charge, Yes Dear, My Name is Earl, Raising Hope and The Middle. He was the commercial spokesperson for Hardee’s Hamburgers and Big Lots discount stores.

Jerry was married twice. His first marriage lasted nearly 20 years and produced three children, including actress Kelly Jean Van Dyke. Kelly, who performed in pornographic films under the name “Nancee Kelly,” was married to actor Jack Nance, a favorite of director David Lynch and best known for the title role of Eraserhead. Kelly, a longtime drug abuser, hanged herself in 1991.

Jerry was involved in a serious car accident in 2016 and had been in declining health as a result. He passed away at his Arkansas ranch in January 2018 at the age of 86.

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Just out of her teens, aspiring actress Carolyn Craig landed small roles in a variety of TV shows, including a few Westerns and popular anthology series. Moving to the big screen, she was cast as “Lacey Lynnton,” Elizabeth Taylor‘s sister, in 1956’s Giant, James Dean‘s final film. She followed that role with the female lead in 1957’s Portland Exposé, a tale of union struggles, and Apache Territory with costar Rory Calhoun in 1958. In 1959, she was part of the ensemble cast led by Vincent Price in William Castle‘s House on Haunted Hill.

She made the jump back to television with roles in many series – both comedy and drama – throughout the 50s and 60s, including Perry Mason, General Hospital, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, My Three Sons and the Westerns Laramie and  The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. Her final role was a guest shot on the spy series T.H.E. Cat starring Robert Loggia in 1967.

In 1970, Carolyn died from a self-inflicted gunshot. She was 36 years old.

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