He was the United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan. He was also White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He also was Vice Chief of Staff of the Army. This is the second-highest ranking officer in the Army. He was in charge of all US and NATO forces in Europe.
Haig was a veteran of the Korean War and Vietnam War. He received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star with oak leaf cluster, and the Purple Heart.
On February 20, 2010, Haig died from complications from a staphylococcal infection, aged 85.
Haig was born in Pennsylvania and had two siblings. His father died when he was young and he was raised by his mother. Haig went to college at Notre Dame University for two years before switching to the United States Military Academy. He later attended Columbia and Georgetown to get his masters. While in the army, he served in the Korean War in several major battles. He served as a commander in the Vietnam War. At one point, his helicopter was shot down and he saw two days of violent hand-to-hand combat. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross for his notable bravery in wartime.
In 1969, President Richard Nixon made him a national security advisor. Haig helped negotiate the ceasefire in the Vietnam War. Nixon promoted him to White House Chief of Staff after H. R. Haldeman resigned facing criminal charges. Haig has been praised by many people by keeping the government running during the Watergate scandal that brought down Nixon. Haig has even been called an "acting president" during the last days of Nixon's administration. When Nixon was forced to resign, Haig helped the new president Gerald Ford. He remained Chief of Staff during Ford's administration.
In 1974, Haig became Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, a job that made him the head of all NATO forces. In 1979 he survived an assassination attempt. In 1979, he retired from the army as a four star general. After this he was on the board of a number of companies. In 1981, Ronald Reagan appointed him as Secretary of State. In this new job, Haig was the head of US foreign policy. Haig believed that the US should take a strong stand against the Soviet Union.
In March 1981, Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr., a mentally ill man in Washington DC. Vice President George Bush was on a plane, and Haig was put in charge of the government until Bush could be reached. He told reporters that "I am in control here." Reagan made a full recovery.
In 1982, after Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, Haig tried to solve the crisis peacefully by bringing UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Argentinian dictator Leopoldo Galtieri to negotiate. No solution was reached and the crisis ended with the full blown Falklands War between the two countries. The British won the war, and Galtieri's regime collapsed. In July 1982, Haig retired from the State Department. Reagan nominated George Schultz as the new Secretary of State.
Haig ran for President in 1988, but George Bush beat him. Haig was involved in a number of businesses after leaving office. He also advised several presidents, who wanted his expertise in foreign policy. In 2006, President George W. Bush held a meeting of ten former State and Defense Secretaries. Haig was at the meeting. He published his memoirs in 1992.
Haig died of natural causes on February 20, 2010. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Kathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson (February 9, 1922 - February 17, 2010) was an American actress and operatic soprano singer.
Grayson trained as an opera singer starting at age 12. She was under contract to MGM by the early 1940s. Most of her work was in musicals. She was the lead in movies such as "Thousands Cheer" (1943), "Anchors Aweigh" (1945) with Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly,"Show Boat" (1951) and "Kiss Me Kate" (1953) (both with Howard Keel).
Musicals stopped being popular. She then worked in theatre. She was in "Camelot" (1962–1964). Later in the decade she was in several operas, including "La bohème", "Madama Butterfly", "Orpheus in the Underworld" and "La traviata".
Grayson died in her sleep at her home in Los Angeles, California on February 17, 2010, aged 88.
Kurt Kasznar
Kurt Kasznar (born Kurt Servischer; August 12, 1913 – August 6, 1979) was a stage, movie and television actor. His movies include: "Waiting for Godot", "The Sound of Music" and "Barefoot in the Park".
Kasznar was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. He married American heiress Cornelia Woolley. This was after her 1939 divorce from her second husband. She died at home unexpectedly in June 1948, at age 48. At the time, Kasznar was performing in John Houseman's Broadway production of "Joy to the World".
Kasznar met his second wife, actress Leora Dana, when they worked together in the Broadway production of "The Happy Time" (1950). That marriage ended in divorce.
Kasznar died August 6, 1979, in Santa Monica, California. This was 10 months after being diagnosed with cancer. He had no known survivors.
Jeff Garlin
Jeffrey "Jeff" Garlin (born June 5, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, voice artist, director, writer and author. He is best known for playing Jeff Greene on the HBO show "Curb Your Enthusiasm". He is also a producer on the show.
Garlin was born in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in Morton Grove, Illinois. Garlin is Jewish.
Nipsey Russell
Julius "Nipsey" Russell (September 15, 1918 – October 2, 2005) was an American comedian and movie actor.
He is best known for being a guest panelist on TV game shows from the 1960s through the 1990s. The game shows, where he appeared, include: "Match Game", "Password", "Hollywood Squares", "To Tell the Truth" and "Pyramid". He would tell short, humorous poems. Because of those poems, people like "Bandstand" leader Dick Clark, host Bill Cullen, actress Betty White, and others called him "the poet laureate of television."
He also was in the movie "The Wiz" as the Tin Man. He was a guest many times on the long-running "Dean Martin Celebrity Roast" series.
He died on October 2, 2005 in New York City, U.S. He had stomach cancer. His ashes were scattered into the Atlantic Ocean.
Richard Roundtree
Richard Roundtree (born July 9, 1942) is an American movie actor and a former fashion model. He portrayed John Shaft in the 1971 movie "Shaft" and its related sequels. He was also in many other movies.
Gerald McRaney
Gerald Lee "Mac" McRaney (born August 19, 1947) is an American television and movie actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows "Simon & Simon", "Major Dad", and "Promised Land". He was a series regular for the first season of "Jericho", and the final season of "Deadwood".
McRaney was born in Collins, Mississippi. He is of Scottish and Choctaw Indian ancestry. He went to college at the University of Mississippi. McRaney worked in the Louisiana oil fields before becoming an actor.
He is a conservative Republican. He is a member of the National Rifle Association.
McRaney was married to Beverly Root from 1967 until they divorced in 1971. They had two children. He was married to Pat Moran from 1981 to 1989. They had a child. He married Delta Burke in 1989.
Roberts Blossom
Roberts Scott Blossom (March 25, 1924 – July 8, 2011) was an American theater, movie and television actor and poet. He is best known for being Old Man Marley in "Home Alone" and as Ezra Cobb in the horror movie "Deranged". He is also remembered for his supporting roles in movies such as "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Escape from Alcatraz".
Blossom died on July 8, 2011 at the age of 87 of cerebrovascular disease. He is survived by his wife Beverly Schmidt and his two children.
Dennis Weaver