“Forgotten Hollywood”- Passing Parade Claims Two Icons…
Manny P. here…
A couple of cultural icons have died. Here are the details:
~ Ben Bradlee was the raspy-voiced editor who invigorated The Washington Post. He got an early break as a journalist thanks to his friendship with one president, John F. Kennedy, and became famous for his role in toppling another, Richard Nixon, in the Watergate scandal. As managing editor, and later, as executive editor, Bradlee engineered the Post’s reinvention, bringing in a cast of talented journalists, and setting editorial standards that brought the paper new respect. BEN BRADLEE ———>
Ben landed his first job at the Post in 1948. He happened to be riding a trolley car past Blair House in 1950 when Puerto Rican extremists opened fire on the presidential guest house while Harry Truman was staying there. Bradlee turned it into a page-one eyewitness story.
He happened to buy a home in Georgetown in 1957, a few months before Senator John F. Kennedy and his wife moved in across the street; the beginning of an intimate friendship and a proximity to power that burnished his credentials as a journalist, and brought him rare insights into government. His access to Kennedy continued through JFK’s presidency, bringing Bradlee influential scoops.
He was one of the few to know the identity early on of the celebrated Watergate source dubbed Deep Throat, revealed publicly in 2005 to be FBI official Mark Felt. Actor Jason Robards turned Bradlee into a box-office hit with his Oscar-winning portrayal of the editor in the 1976 movie All the President’s Men, which recounted the unraveling of Watergate under the reporting of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
In November 2013, Bradlee received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, who saluted the newspaper man for bringing an intensity and dedication to journalism.
Ben Bradlee was 93.
~ Oscar de la Renta was a fashion designer who dressed first ladies, socialites, and movie stars for more than four decades. The late 1960s and early 1970s were a defining moment in fashion as New York-based designers carved out a look of their own that was finally taken seriously by Europeans. De la Renta and his peers, including the late Bill Blass, Halston, and Geoffrey Beene, defined American style.
He became internationally known in the 1960s as one of the couturiers who dressed Jacqueline Kennedy. Other wives of chief executives who have donned a de la Renta include Hilary Clinton, Laura Bush, and most recently, Michelle Obama. OSCAR DE LA RENTA —>
Penelope Cruz and Sandra Bullock have often worn his feminine and opulent gowns. One actress who appeared in a de la Renta creation at this year’s Oscars was Jennifer Garner. His clothes were woven into episodes of Sex and the City. Weeks ago, the most famous bride in the world, Amal Alamuddin, wore a custom, off-the-shoulder, de la Renta gown to wed George Clooney in Venice.
Oscar de la Renta was 82.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 21st, 2014 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
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