Timelines for year 1969
Martha Raye
The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award was given to Raye in 1969 for her work with charities and entertaining U.S. troops; her estate gave it to the Friars Club in 1997 where she was its first female honorary member.
Will Lee
After his death in late 1982, the producers of "Sesame Street" (1969) decided to kill off Mr. Hooper instead of hiring another actor to take over the part of the Street's amiable storekeeper. In a special "Sesame Street" episode that aired in November 1983 (nearly a year after Lee's death), Big Bird learned to cope with and grieve the death of his dear friend.
Sharon Tate
Her friend Christopher Jones was emotionally devastated by her August 9th, 1969 murder by the acolytes of Charles Manson. Jones suffered what he described as a "nervous breakdown" and abandoned his acting career.
Cassandra Peterson
Attended Palmer High School, Colorado Springs, Colorado; graduated in class of 1969.
Joel McCrea
Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1969.
Mickey Rooney
Liza Minnelli wanted Rooney to do the eulogy at the funeral for her mother, Judy Garland in June of 1969, but decided against it because she felt that Rooney might not be able to get through it, given his and Garland's long and close friendship.
Liza Minnelli wanted Rooney to do the eulogy at the funeral for her mother, Judy Garland in June of 1969, but decided against it because she felt that Rooney might not be able to get through it, given his and Garland's long and close friendship.
Max Thayer
Joined an experimental theatre group in 1969 and performed street theatre in Venice, California.
Shirley Knight
The runaway story of her character Natalie Ravenna in The Rain People (1969) inspired the character of Dolors (Montse Caminal) in the Short film Silenci (2007).
Bill Buckner
Made major league debut on 21 September 1969.
Played for the National League's Los Angeles Dodgers (1969[1 game] -1976) and Chicago Cubs (1977-1984[part]); and the American League's Boston Red Sox (1984[part]-1987[part] & 1990), California Angels (1987[part]- 1988 [part]), and Oakland Athletics (1988[part]-1989).
Sonny Jurgensen
Led NFL in Pass Attempts (442), Completions (274) and Passing Yards (3,102) in 1969.
Alan Rachins
One of the original performers of the half play, half musical, fully nude off- Broadway hit "Oh! Calcutta" back in 1969.
Shirley Stoler
Director Martin Scorsese was the first director on Shirley's debut film The Honeymoon Killers (1969). The inexperienced Scorsese was actually replaced because of artistic and personality clashes with producer Warren Steibel.
Abraham Polonsky
UC Riverside has a fiction prize, named for Polonsky, given to the writer of the best short-story in their annual literary magazine. Harry Lawton, an instructor at the university, wrote a non-fiction book called "Willie Boy: A Desert Manhunt" which was the inspiration for a script by Jack B. Sowards and purportedly the inspiration for Polonsky's script for Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969). In an interview with Soward at the WGA website, he claims that years after he'd given up on the script he wrote, Polonsky came by his office at Universal asking what time it was. When Soward asked what was wrong with his watch, Polonsky said, "There's nothing wrong with my watch. I just wanted to meet the man who wrote MY script." Apparently people who had read Soward's script years back were complimenting Polonsky on his decision to direct it, not realizing/knowing that he wrote an original screenplay for the movie.
Dustin Hoffman
The only actor in history to have top billing in three films that won the Best Picture Oscar: Midnight Cowboy (1969), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988).