Rebecca Schaeffer, a child model and aspiring actress, landed a small role on the soap opera One Life to Live. Her role lasted six months and she went back to modeling, even moving to Japan for a time, where her skills we more in demand. She was cast in a small role in Woody Allen’s film Radio Days, but, sadly, her scene time was cut from the final product.

A cover shot for Seventeen magazine led to a co-starring role in a new sitcom called My Sister Sam, starring Pam Dawber, fresh off her five-season stint on Mork and Mindy. The series, an initial hit, was canceled after two seasons due to poor ratings.

During the run of the show, Robert John Bardo became obsessed with Rebecca. Previously, Bardo had stalked child pilot Samantha Smith, but moved on to Rebecca after Smith was killed in a plane crash. Bardo wrote numerous letters to Rebecca, but was turned away by security when he tried to enter Warner Brothers studios to meet the actress. In 1989, Bardo became furious after the release of the film Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills, which featured a scene showing Rebecca in bed with a male actor. He hired a detective to obtain the address of her apartment. Bardo, armed with a handgun that his brother purchased for him, roamed Rebecca’s West Hollywood neighborhood, asking neighbors to confirm her address. He brazenly rang her doorbell. Rebecca, who was studying a script hoping to get a part in the upcoming Godfather III, answered the door. Bardo explained that he was a fan and asked for an autograph. She was annoyed, but she obliged and asked him not to come to her home again, then she shut the door.

Bardo returned to Rebecca’s apartment an hour later. Rebecca answered with an angered look on her face. Bardo pulled his pistol from a brown paper bag and shot Rebecca point-blank in the chest. She collapsed as Bardo fled the scene. A neighbor called paramedics, but Rebecca was pronounced dead within thirty minutes. She was 21 years old.

Bardo was caught and confessed to the murder. At his trial, he was tried by future O.J. Simpson attorney Marcia Clark. Bardo was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to a life sentence with no possibility of parole.

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Philadelphia native Virginia Klotz moved to New York City to pursue her dream of acting. She got work as a dancer while she was the roommate of future Hollywood siren Barbara Stanwyck. Virginia, now using the stage name “Mae Clarke,” signed on with Universal Pictures and was immediately cast in some big films, all in 1931. She was featured in the first filmed version of The Front Page, a story that would be remade for decades to come. She costarred in Frankenstein, Universal’s first foray into the lucrative horror genre. Mae played Dr. Frankenstein’s fiancee Elizabeth, who is terrorized by the monster on her wedding day. Later in the year, she played the memorable, though uncredited, role of Kitty, James Cagney’s girlfriend in The Public Enemy, in which she famously receives a grapefruit half to the face at the hand of Cagney. In the film, Cagney promptly dumps Mae in favor of Jean Harlow. The Public Enemy was so popular, it ran 24 hours a day in a Times Square theater. Mae’s ex-husband had the grapefruit scene timed so perfectly that he would frequently buy a ticket, enter the theater to again enjoy that sequence, then immediately leave the theater.

Although she continued to get work, Mae was no longer considered a leading lady by the mid-1930s. She was relegated to small roles in films through the rest of her career. She managed to get a starring role in the late 40s, although it was a low-budget 12-chapter science-fiction serial for Republic Pictures. Later, Mae found work on television in shows like Perry Mason, Batman and General Hospital.

Mae was married three times. Her first husband was Lew Brice, brother of comedienne Fanny.

In her later years, Mae was known to attend horror film conventions, where she enjoyed meeting Frankenstein fans. She passed away in 1992 at the age of 81.

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Dallas McCarver was a young, unknown upstart when he surprised all spectators by taking the Super Heavyweight class and the Overall for his Pro card at an NPC North Americans competition. He was just 21 and it was his 3rd bodybuilding competition ever.  Dallas continued to make a name for himself in the sport, winning numerous awards and receiving accolades from admirers and reporters alike. He began dating Dana Brooke, a WWE professional wrestler and fellow bodybuilder.

Just after midnight on August 21, 2017, Dallas was found unconscious in his home by his friend and training partner Joshua Lenartowicz. Dallas was transported to the hospital where food was dislodged from his trachea. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Dallas was 26.

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Venus Ramey, a pretty 20-year-old from the northern Kentucky town of Asheville, was crowned Miss America on September 9, 1944. She was the first Miss America to be photographed in color, no doubt because she was also the first Miss America with red hair.

Riding on her pageant fame, Venus was wooed by Hollywood, but found show business not to her liking. She returned to Kentucky, but not before selling $5 million worth of War Bonds during World War II. She received a special citation from the US Treasury for her efforts. A B-17 of the 15th Air Force, 301st bomb group was nicknamed “Venus Ramey” in her honor. It was one of the longest commissioned bombers of the war.

She ran for Kentucky House of Representatives and became an outspoken advocate for women’s’ rights. She spearheaded a campaign to recognize the Cincinnati area “Over-the-Rhine” for historical certification.

In 2007, at age 82, Venus confronted intruders who had entered a building on her Kentucky farm. She had previously been the victim of theft and was very protective of her property. She used a snub-nose .38 revolver, steadying the weapon on the crossbar of her walker, to shoot out the tires on the thieves’ pickup truck, then flagged down a car and had the driver call 911. She held the would-be thieves at gun-point until the sheriff arrived. “I didn’t even think twice.” she said. “If they’d even dared come close to me, they’d be six feet under by now.”

Venus passed away in June 2017 at the age of 92.

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15 year-old Josephine Baker began her career dancing on the streets of St. Louis. She was recruited to perform in the vaudeville circuit and eventually traveled to New York. She was a chorus girl during the Harlem Renaissance and was featured in Broadway revues alongside the great Adelaide Hall. Josephine, along with most African-American performers of the time, took the stage in blackface.

Josephine soon sailed to Paris and, at 19, performed erotic and suggestive dancing — almost completely nude — at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Her dancing act soon included exotic and outrageous costumes and props, including a skirt of bananas and a live cheetah with a diamond collar. Frequent audience member Ernest Hemingway called her “the most sensational woman anyone ever saw.”

After a brief stint with the Ziegfeld Follies in 1936, Josephine returned to France. She married a native and became a French citizen. She even helped the French Resistance during World War II, smuggling messages in her underwear to be delivered after performances. She became revered for her patriotic efforts for her adopted country and was welcomed at the Folies Bergere. She regularly packed the house and was invited back to the United States. However, Josephine was a  harsh critic of segregation and rumors spread of her involvement with Communists. These accusations prompted the termination of Josephine’s work visa, forcing her to cancel all her remaining engagements and return to France. It was almost a decade before U.S. officials allowed her back into the country.

In 1973, Josephine returned to play Carnegie Hall in an effort to help her failing finances. Now in her mid-60s, her strenuous performances were exhausting. She also had trouble remembering lyrics, and her speeches between songs tended to ramble.

In 1975, she starred in a career retrospective at a Paris music hall. Seating was at a premium. The audience included such fans as Sophia Loren, Mick Jagger, Diana Ross, and Liza Minnelli. Four days after the show, Josephine was found unresponsive in her bed. She was comatose, the result of a cerebral hemorrhage. She was rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead at 68 years old.

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Ever smilin’
Ever gentle on my mind

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