Ride on

by chuckofish

Yesterday was the 47th anniversary of the passing of John Wayne in 1979. His legacy lives on through the John Wayne: An American Experience Museum in the Fort Worth Stockyards where visitors can explore the life and career of Duke, as well as through the work of the John Wayne Cancer Foundation, dedicated to the fight against cancer in his honor. His family has done an impressive job preserving his name and image.

We also remember that 22 years ago yesterday, President Ronald Reagan was laid to rest at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California.

I have been reading his autobiography, An American Life, and it really is the quintessential American story–small town boy with brains, talent and good looks, who through hard work becomes a movie star and then the governor of a (then) great state and ultimately president. Only in America.

My personal favorite: Santa Fe Trail with Olivia de Haviland and Errol Flynn

Today we also remember the wonderful character actress Mary Wickes, who was born Mary Wickenhauser on June 13, 1910 in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up in University City in Ames Place about two blocks from my childhood home. She graduated from Washington University in 1930 and then moved to NYC and appeared on Broadway, before transitioning to film and television.

Mary Wickes and Patrick Knowles in Who Done It? (1942)

From the 1940s to the 1970s, she often played supporting roles as professional women – such as secretaries, nurses, therapists, teachers, and housekeepers – who made sarcastic quips when the leading characters fell short of her high standards.

And who can forget her as Emma, the busybody housekeeper in White Christmas (1953)?

I don’t know about you, but in our family we are constantly quoting her exclaiming, “This calls for champagne!”

She never married or had any children, but she left a large estate and made a $2 million bequest in memory of her parents, establishing the Isabella and Frank Wickenhauser Memorial Library Fund for Television, Film and Theater Arts at Washington University. She is buried in the Wickenhauser family plot in the Shiloh Valley Cemetery in Shiloh, St. Clair County, Illinois.

So why not watch a movie starring John Wayne or Ronald Reagan or a movie or TV show featuring Mary Wickes tonight–I know I’d love to find Season 2, episode 1 of Murder She Wrote, wouldn’t you?

Have a good weekend!