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Bangladeshi Film Actress Shabana শাবানা 1952

শাবানা একজন বাংলাদেশী অভিনেত্রী। ১৯৬৭ সালে চকোরী চলচ্চিত্রে চিত্রনায়ক নাদিমের বিপরীতে তাঁর চলচ্চিত্রে আবির্ভাব ঘটে। শাবানার প্রকৃত নাম রত্না, শাবানা তাঁর চলচ্চিত্রের নাম, যা চিত্র পরিচালক এহতেশাম প্রদান করেন। তাঁর ভালো নাম আফরোজা। শাবানার বাবার নাম ফয়েজ চৌধুরী যিনি সামান্য একজন টাইপিস্ট ছিলেন এবং মা ফজিলাতুন্নেসা ছিলেন গৃহিনী।পরিবারটির আয় সামান্য হলেও তারা সুখী ছিলেন। শাবানার ছোট খালা ছিলেন তাঁর প্রিয় পাত্র ।তাঁর নানা বাসা কাছেই ছিল তাদের বাসা থেকে। শাবানা গেন্ডারিয়া হাই স্কুলে ভর্তি হলেও তার পড়ালেখা ভালো লাগত না।শাবানা প্রাতিষ্ঠানিক শিক্ষার তাই ইতি ঘটে মাত্র ৯ বছর বয়সে।তিনি ১৯৬২ সালে ‘নতুন সুর’ ছবিতে প্রথম অভিনয় করেন ছোট্ট মেয়ের চরিত্রে।১৯৬৩ সালে তিনি উর্দু ‘তালাশ’ ছবিতে নাচের দৃশ্যে অংশ নেন।তারপর বেশ কিছু চলচ্চিত্রে তিনি এক্সট্রা হিসেবে কাজ করেন।‘আবার বনবাসে রূপবান’ এবং ‘ডাক বাবু’ সিনেমাতে তিনি সহনায়িকার কাজ পান।তিনি ইবনে মিজানের চকোরী সিনেমাতেও কাজ করেন।

জন্ম শাবানা
১৫ই জুন ,১৯৫২ সাল
জন্মস্থান গেন্ডারিয়া,ঢাকা
পেশা চলচ্চিত্র অভিনেত্রী
যে কারণে পরিচিত চলচ্চিত্র অভিনেত্রী


১৯৬৭ সালে চকোরী চলচ্চিত্রে চিত্রনায়ক নাদিমের বিপরীতে তাঁর চলচ্চিত্রে নায়িকা হিসেবে আবির্ভাব ঘটে, যার চিত্র পরিচালক ছিলেন এহতেশাম।চকোরী ছিল একটি দারুণ ব্যবসা সফল ছবি।তখন উর্দু ছবির সাথে বাংলা ছবির প্রতিযোগিতা হত এবং শাবানা প্রথমদিকে উর্দু ছবিই বেশি করতেন।‘অবুজ মন’ এবং ‘মধু মিলন’ এই ২টি সিনেমার মাধ্যমে তিনি রাজ্জাকের সাথে জুটি গড়ে তোলেন।চলচ্চিত্রের রাজনীতি থেকে বাঁচতে শাবানা তার বাবাকে নিয়ে নতুন চলচ্চিত্র প্রযোজনা সংস্থা গড়ে তোলেন যার প্রথম ছবি ছিল ১৯৬৯ সালের মুক্তি সিনেমা।প্রাথমিক অবস্থায় নায়ক নাদিমের সাথে তাকে জড়িয়ে গুজব ছড়ালেও তিনি তা কাটিয়ে উঠতে সক্ষম হন।

শাবানা চলচ্চিত্র জগতে তাঁর অভিনয়ের মাধ্যমে প্রতিষ্টিত হয়ে যান।১৯৭৩ সালে তিনি ওয়াহিদ সাদিককে বিয়ে করেন।তিনি একজন সরকারী কর্মকর্তা ছিলেন। শাবানার প্রযোজনা প্রতিষ্ঠান এস এস প্রোডাকশনের দেখাশোনার ভার তার স্বামীর ওপর পরে।শাবানা অনেক বাণিজ্যিক সিনেমাতেও অভিনয় করেন টিকে থাকার জন্য।১৯৯৭ সালে শাবানা হঠাৎ চলচ্চিত্র-অঙ্গন থেকে বিদায় নেওয়ার ঘোষণা দেন। এরপর তিনি আর নতুন কোনো চলচ্চিত্রে অভিনয় করেননি। ২০০০ সালে শাবানা সপরিবারে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রে চলে যান। শাবানা মস্কো ফ্লিম ফেস্টিভ্যাল, রুমানিয়া ফ্লিম ফেস্টিভ্যাল, কান ফ্লিম ফেস্টিভ্যালসহ আরো বিভিন্ন চলচ্চিত্র উৎসবে যোগ দিয়েছিলেন।

সম্মাননা

শাবানা মোট ১০ বার জাতীয় চলচ্চিত্র পুরষ্কার লাভ করেন। ১৯৭৭ সালে তিনি প্রথম এই পুরষ্কার পান ‘জননী’ সিনেমার জন্য। এরপর ১৯৮০, ১৯৮২, ১৯৮৩, ১৯৮৪, ১৯৮৭,১৯৯০, ১৯৯১, ১৯৯৩ এবং ১৯৯৪ সালেও তিনি জাতীয় চলচ্চিত্র পুরষ্কার পান। তাঁর অন্যান্য পুরষ্কারের মধ্যে আছে ১৯৯১ সালে প্রযোজক সমিতি পুরষ্কার, ১৯৮২ ও ১৯৮৭ সালে বাচসাস পুরষ্কার, ১৯৮৪ সালে আর্ট ফোরাম পুরষ্কার, ১৯৮৮ সালে আর্ট ফোরাম পুরষ্কার, ১৯৮৮ সালে নাট্যসভা পুরষ্কার, ১৯৮৭ সালে কামরুল হাসান পুরষ্কার, ১৯৮২ সালে নাট্য নিকেতন পুরষ্কার, ১৯৮৫ সালে ললিতকলা একাডেমী পুরষ্কার, ১৯৮৪ সালে সায়েন্স ক্লাব পুরষ্কার, ১৯৮৯ সালে কথক একাডেমী পুরষ্কার এবং ঐ বছরই জাতীয় যুব সংগঠন পুরষ্কার।

উল্লেখযোগ্য সিনেমা

* বেগম রোকেয়া
* ঝড় তুফান
* বানজারান
* রাজনন্দিনী
* জননী (১৯৭৭)
* সখি তুমি কার (১৯৮০)
* দুই পয়সার আলতা (১৯৮২)
* নাজমা (১৯৮৩)
* ভাত দে (১৯৮৪)
* অপেক্ষা (১৯৮৭)
* মরণের পরে (১৯৯০)
* অচেনা (১৯৯১)
* রাঙাভাবী (১৯৯৩)
* গরীবের বউ (১৯৯৪)
* অবুজ মন
* মধু মিলন
* চকোরী
* স্বামী কেন আসামী
* মাটির ঘর
* রাজলক্ষী-শ্রীকান্ত
* লাল কাজল
* দস্যু রাণী

Actor Neil Patrick Harris 1973

Actor. Born June 15, 1973 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The son of attorneys, Harris grew up in Ruidoso, New Mexico, where he got his start in acting as Toto in a grade school production of The Wizard of Oz. He appeared in several plays and musicals while attending La Cueva High School.

In 1988 at age 15, Neil Patrick Harris won a Golden Globe nomination for his performance opposite Whoopi Goldberg in the drama Clara's Heart. The following year, he landed the leading role as a teenage surgeon on ABC's Doogie Howser, M.D. The show was a hit, and for several years Harris was synonymous with his small-screen persona. He was nominated again for a Golden Globe for his work on the show, which ran for four seasons.

For the next several years, Neil Patrick Harris continued to stay busy, though his projects failed to reach the same success as Doogie Howser, M.D. He appeared in supporting roles on the big screen in such films as Starship Troopers, The Next Best Thing and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. He also starred as a neurotic editor opposite Tony Shalhoub in the NBC sitcom Stark Raving Mad. Harris also appeared on Broadway in Proof, Assassins and Rent, as well as a critically acclaimed performance as the host in Cabaret.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Neil Patrick Harris earned acclaim for several made-for-TV movies, including My Antonia, Joan of Arc and The Christmas Blessing. He landed another sitcom success in 2005 with his role as the womanizing Barney Stinson in CBS's How I Met Your Mother.

In 2006, following media speculation about his sexual orientation, Neil Patrick Harris made a public statement in People magazine: "I am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest." He is currently in a long-term relationship with Broadway actor David Burtka. The couple announced in August 2010 that they would be the parents of twins via a surrogate mother. "We're super excited/nervous/thrilled [to be parents]," Harris declared on Twitter.

Hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam 1957

Hedge fund manager. Raj Rajaratnam was born on June 15, 1957, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He earned an undergraduate degree in engineering at the University of Sussex in England in 1980, and a master's in business administration from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in 1983.

Rajaratnam began his career in finance as a lending officer at Chase Manhattan Bank, where he made loans to high-tech companies. He shifted his focus to investments in the electronics industry at banking boutique Needham & Co., where he started in 1985. At Needham he began a hedge fund that mainly invested in technology stocks. He would later buy the fund, and rename it Galleon. Rajaratnam quickly rose through the ranks, becoming head of research in 1987. In 1991, by the age of 34, Rajaratnam was named president of Needham.

The technology boom of the 1990s put Rajaratnam on the fast track to success. Galleon brought in extraordinary returns, its main fund rising 93 percent in 1999. Rajaratnam developed a reputation as an aggressive buyer and seller with a robust personality. He saw his personal fortune grow immensely and, in 2009, Forbes magazine ranked him the 236th richest American, with an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion. Rajaratnam is also believed to be the world's richest Sri Lankan.

The billionaire became known for his charitable giving, setting up a local charity after the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka, and giving millions of dollars to other causes related to his home country. Rajaratnam also donated $30,800 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

Yet Rajaratnam's rise to fame and fortune was not without problems. A series of legal challenges began in 2001, when a former Intel employee, Roomy Khan, admitted to giving Galleon confidential information about Intel. Khan pleaded guilty to the federal fraud charge.

In 2004, the Internal Revenue Service discovered that Rajaratnam and another Galleon executive created a sham tax shelter in 1999 to hide $52 million of income. Later, a panel of arbitrators found that the Galleon executives were not aware of the purpose of the tax shelter, but not before Rajaratnam had paid $20 million in taxes, penalties and interest. More importantly, Rajaratnam was now on the federal government's radar. A Securities and Exchange Commission investigation in 2005 found that Galleon had repeatedly violated stock-trading rules.

Despite facing legal battles associated with Roomy Khan, Rajaratnam continued to do business with her, briefly hiring her at Galleon. In 2007, Khan agreed to let the F.B.I. tap her cellphone, giving the federal government access to conversations between Khan and Rajaratnam. These taped conversations would prove to be the key to a massive case the F.B.I. was building against Rajaratnam, with Khan as the central witness.

On October 16, 2009, police arrested Rajaratnam at his New York City home on charges of insider trading. Senior executives at companies including IBM, Intel, and McKinsey & Company were also arrested, charged with providing Rajaratnam with insider trading tips to the tune of millions of dollars. The SEC estimated the scheme's profits at more than $25 million. Rajaratnam pleaded not guilty, and was released on a $100 million bond.

Rajaratnam's arrest marked the end for Galleon. Investors immediately pulled their money from the troubled hedge fund, and it closed the same month. By the final days of Rajaratnam's seven-week trial in April 2011, 21 former Galleon employees had been arrested, and 11 pleaded guilty to charges brought against them. The case is the largest ever made against a hedge fund, creating a media firestorm in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and growing scrutiny of Wall Street.

1st Baseball Woman Umpire Bernice Gera 1931 - 1992

Professional umpire. Born on June 15, 1931, in Ernest, Pennsylvania. Creating a sports milestone, Bernice Gera was the first professional woman umpire in the history of baseball. As a child, she began her lifelong love of the sport. Gera didn’t consider a career in baseball until after she had worked as a secretary for a while and got married. According to a Time magazine article, the idea to become an umpire just suddenly hit her one night. Gera sold her husband on the idea and enrolled in the Florida Baseball School in 1967.


As a training facility for a strictly male profession, the school had no facilities for Gera. Bernice Gera spent much of the six-week program living in a nearby motel. By several reports, she excelled in her training. But breaking into the field would prove to be enormously challenging. Gera was rejected by the National Association of Baseball Leagues (NABL), which claimed that she did not meet the physical requirements of the job.

Bernice Gera would not be deterred, however. She fought the NABL in court for several years before winning the right to umpire in 1972. On June 24, 1972, Gera made history as the first professional female umpire at a double-header between the Auburn Phillies and Geneva Rangers in New York-Pennsylvania League. Her victory was short-lived—she quit between games. According to The New York Times, Gera reportedly resigned because none of the other umpires would work with her on the field.

Although she stopped umpiring, Bernice Gera stayed in the game. She went to work for the New York Mets in the team’s community relations and promotions for several years before retiring to Florida.

Bernice Gera died of kidney cancer in Pembroke Pines, Florida, in 1992.

Politician Josiah Henson 1789 - 1883

Abolitionist, minister. Born into slavery June 15, 1789, in Port Tobacco, Maryland, Henson witnessed frequent abuses to his family. Henson's father received a severe beating for striking a white man who was trying to sexually assault Henson's mother. Henson's father never recovered from the incident, and was sold to an owner in Alabama. Henson's brother and sisters were also sold off one by one, as was his mother. Through several business exchanges made with various owners, Henson eventually landed in the hands of owner Isaac Riley in Maryland.

Riley saw Henson's potential, and moved him from laborer to market man. In this position, proved his morality and obedience to Riley, who allwed henson to begin attending Christian sermons. During one particular sermon, Henson came into contact with an anti-slavery preacher, and was exposed to the abolitionist movement. In 1811, Henson was allowed to marry another slave, Charlotte.

In 1825, Riley went bankrupt and had to sell his farm. Henson and 22 other slaves were sold to Riley's brother, Amos, in Kentucky. Riley made Henson promise to deliver himself and the other slaves safely to Kentucky. Henson kept his word and all were delivered, even though they traveled through the free state of Ohio. In 1828, Henson became a preacher for the Methodist Episcopal Church and was able to earn money to buy his freedom. His master took the money, but then raised the price to $1,000.

As Henson tried to raise the money, his new master sold him to a new planter in New Orleans. While traveling to New Orleans with his owner to finish the transaction, the master's son got seriously ill. Henson was charged with bringing his master's son back home, and could have made a run for his freedom. Instead, Henson brought him safely home, with no reward or appreciation. This was the last straw for Henson, and in 1830 he decided to flee to Canada with his wife and children.

On October 28, 1830, Henson and his family settled in Dresden, Ontario. For the next four years, Henson worked as a farm laborer and preacher in the area, and had his oldest son teach him how to read and write. He also became involved in the Underground Railroad, leading over 200 slaves to freedom. In 1842, he developed his own Afro-Canadian community that taught practical skills to his fugitives. In 1849, Henson published his autobiography, The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself.

In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom's Cabin, a fictional portrayal of slavery in America. Beecher later revealed that one of the novel's main characters, Uncle Tom, was based on Josiah Henson. This made Henson famous, and for a few years afterward he made the lecture circuit as the "real Uncle Tom."

Henson died on May 5, 1883.

Pianist Errol Garner 1923 - 1977

(born June 15, 1921, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.—died Jan. 2, 1977, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. pianist and composer, one of the most virtuosic and popular pianists in jazz. Garner was influenced by Fats Waller and was entirely self-taught. He spelled Art Tatum in the latter's trio in 1945 and subsequently formed his own three-piece group, achieving commercial success with Concert by the Sea (1958), one of the best-selling albums in jazz. Like Waller and Tatum, Garner was adept at performing both with a rhythm section and unaccompanied, often establishing great momentum with his sure sense of swing. His best-known composition is “Misty.”

Actress Helen Hunt 1963

Actress. Born June 15, 1963, in Culver City, California. The daughter of Gordon Hunt, an acting coach and theater director, and Jane Hunt, a photographer, Hunt grew up in Los Angeles and New York. She decided on an acting career early: by age nine, she had begun studying drama, had an agent, and had landed a role in the 1973 television movie Pioneer Woman. After appearing as an adolescent in such TV series as Amy Prentiss (1974-75), Swiss Family Robinson (1975-76), The Fitzpatricks (1977-78), and It Takes Two (1982-83), Hunt found a recurring role on the medical melodrama St. Elsewhere in 1982. She also earned acclaim for her role in the 1983 TV movie Quarterback Princess, in which she played a high school girl bent on leading her school’s otherwise all-male football team to the state championships.

Hunt made her feature film debut in 1977 with the forgettable film Rollercoaster. Though she had supporting roles in such films as Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985, starring Sarah Jessica Parker), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986, starring Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage), The Waterdance (1992, starring Eric Stoltz), and Mr. Saturday Night (1992, starring Billy Crystal), Hunt first earned star status for her role as smart urban career woman and wife Jamie Buchman on the much-loved TV sitcom Mad About You. Over the course of the show’s seven seasons (1992-99), Hunt won four consecutive Emmy Awards from 1996-99 and became one of America’s best loved television couples with costar Paul Reiser.

Hunt’s hard work and small-screen stardom finally translated to big-screen success in the latter half of the 1990s. In 1996, she starred opposite Bill Paxton in the summer action blockbuster Twister, which became one of the top-grossing movies of that year. A year later, she won acclaim from both critics and audiences—along with an Academy Award for Best Actress—for her star turn as a long-suffering single mother and waitress alongside Best Actor winner Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets (1997), written and directed by James L. Brooks.

Although her Oscar win sent Hunt straight to Hollywood’s A-list, she made her next starring appearance on stage, playing the androgynously charming Viola in an acclaimed 1998 production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In 2000, she returned to the big screen with several long-awaited efforts, including Pay It Forward, costarring Kevin Spacey and Haley Joel Osment; What Women Want, costarring Mel Gibson; Dr. T and the Women, starring Richard Gere; and Cast Away, costarring Tom Hanks and directed by Robert Zemeckis.

In 2001, Hunt costarred opposite writer-director Woody Allen in Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, a 1940s-era detective comedy also featuring Dan Ackroyd and Charlize Theron.

Hunt, who previously dated her Project X costar Matthew Broderick, married her longtime boyfriend, actor Hank Azaria (The Birdcage, Mystery, Alaska), in July 1999. The couple separated in August 2000. In May 2004, Hunt and her beau, writer-producer Matthew Carnahan, welcomed a baby girl named McKenna.

Actress Courteney Cox 1964

Actress, born on June 15, 1964 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. The youngest of four children born to Richard L. and mother Courteney. Her parents split in 1974 and she lived with her mother and step-father Hunter Copeland. As a child, she was athletic and was an avid swimmer and tennis player. She studied architecture for a year at Mount Vernon College, dropped out to pursue a modelling in New York City, then took a range of parts in films and television.

Cox's big break came when she was cast by Brian De Palma in the Bruce Springsteen video "Dancing in the Dark." In 1985, she moved to Los Angeles and landed the role of Lauren Miller — Michael J. Fox's girlfriend on the hit series Family Ties. Cox is perhaps best known for her role as Monica Geller in the acclaimed television series Friends (1994- ). The series made her an international superstar.

Roles in feature films began with Down Twisted (1986), and include Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) co-starring with Jim Carrey, Wes Carven's Scream and its sequel (1996, 1998), and Commandments (1997). Cox earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role as a divorced forty-year in the television series Cougar Town.

Courteney Cox dated actor Michael Keaton from 1990-95. She married actor David Arquette on June 12, 1999, and the couple welcomed a baby girl in June 2004.

Singer Musician Waylon Jennings 1937 - 2002

Singer, songwriter, musician. Born on June 15, 1937, in Littlefield, Texas. A musical rebel, Waylon Jennings is best remembered for helping to popularize a grittier and more rock-influenced style of “outlaw” country music. He and some of his fellow artists were labeled “outlaws” for challenging the country music establishment and for their hard-partying ways.

Jennings learned to play guitar as a child. By the age of 12, he was playing in a band and working as a radio disc jockey. Jennings dropped out of school and moved to Lubbock in 1954. There he found work at a local radio station, KLLL, where he met and befriended early rock and roll star Buddy Holly. In 1958, Holly produced Jennings’ first single, “Jole Blon,” and Jennings played in Holly’s backup band, The Crickets, for a time. He was performing with the group on February 3, 1959, and he was supposed to get on a private plane with Holly after their show at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Jennings, however, gave up his spot on the plane to rock star J. P. Richardson—better known as the Big Bopper—who wasn’t feeling well. Shortly after takeoff, the plane crashed, killing Holly, Richardson, singer Ritchie Valens, and the pilot.

Heartbroken after the tragedy, Jennings returned to Lubbock for a time and worked as a radio disc jockey. He moved to Phoenix in 1960 and restarted his musical career, forming a band called the Waylors. The group developed a local following and even recorded some singles through the independent record label Trend. While the band never really took off commercially, Jennings landed a contract with A&M Records in 1963 and moved to Los Angeles. He got into a conflict with the record label over the direction of his music. They wanted him to take on more of a pop sound. Not one to be pushed around, Jennings remained committed to his country style. He made only one album for A&M.

In 1965, Jennings moved to Nashville. He became roommates with country music’s man in black, Johnny Cash, which marked the start of a lifelong friendship. That year Jennings had his first country hit, “Stop the World (And Let Me Off).” By 1968, he had several successful singles, including “Walk On Out of My Mind” and “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line.” Jennings won his first Grammy Award in 1969 for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “MacArthur Park,” which he recorded with the Kimberlys.

Around this time, Jennings’ musical style continued to evolve, taking on a tougher, more bass-driven sound. He worked on songs with such songwriters and artists as Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. In 1973, Jennings released Honky Tonk Heroes, which is often seen as one of the early albums displaying his new so-called outlaw sound. This new style was a distinct break from the slick productions of the more traditional country music and began to develop its own following. Reaching the top of the country charts in 1974, “This Time” was the first number one hit for Jennings and was quickly followed by another chart-topper “I’m a Ramblin’ Man.”

Jennings got his first taste of crossover success in 1975 when “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” made its way onto the pop charts. Around that same time, he was honored by the Country Music Association as Male Vocalist of the Year. Jennings’ participation in the compilation Wanted! The Outlaws (1976) helped him become an even bigger name in music. A number one hit on the pop album charts, the recording featured songs by Jennings, Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser, and Jessi Colter, Jennings’ fourth wife. The couple even sang several duets together, including a cover of “Suspicious Minds.”

Joining forces with Nelson, he recorded Waylon & Willie (1978), which went on to sell several million copies. One of their duets from the album, “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” reached the top of the charts and gave Jennings his second Grammy Award. He and Nelson shared the honors for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

For the rest of the decade and into the early 1980s, Jennings continued to make hits, including “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)” and “Theme from ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ (Good Ol’ Boys).” In addition to creating the theme song for the television series, Jennings served as the narrator for the country comedy The Dukes of Hazzard.

Long known for his partying ways, Jennings’ drug use escalated into an expensive cocaine and amphetamine habit, which sometimes cost him as much as $1,500 a day. He decided to quit in 1984. The following year, Jennings teamed up with Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson to form the Highwaymen. They hit the top of the country charts with “Highwayman,” which was included on their successful album of the same name. The 1990 follow-up album, Highwayman 2, is not fare as well.

While he had a tough time getting his music played on country music stations, Jennings remained a popular performer, touring extensively until 1997. He even played a few dates on 1996 Lollapalooza tour, better known for showcasing alternative rock acts. Around this time, Jennings candidly shared his many ups and downs in Waylon: An Autobiography, written with Lenny Kaye.

Diagnosed with diabetes in the early 1990s, Jennings had trouble walking in his later years. But that did not stop him from making music. In 2000, Jennings recorded several performances at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for the album Never Say Die Live. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. Later that year, Jennings had to have a foot amputated because diabetes-related health problems.

Jennings died on February 13, 2002, at his home in Chandler, Arizona. Married since 1969, he and Jessi Colter had one child together, Waylon Albright “Shooter” Jennings. Jennings had five other children from his three previous marriages.

Friends and fans alike mourned the passing of the country music superstar. “Waylon Jennings was an American archetype, the bad guy with the big heart,” Kristofferson told the Los Angeles Times. Despite his difficult final years, “he was filled with creativity and joy,” his son Shooter explained to People magazine.

Shooter Jennings has followed his father’s footsteps, playing in a number of bands. With his current backup band, the .357s, he has put together a new album of his father’s music consisting of tracks recorded years before Waylon’s death. The recording, Waylon Forever, will be released in October 2008.

Comedian Jim Varney 1949 - 2000

Actor, comedian. Born June 15, 1949, in Lexington, Kentucky. Varney began acting in local theater at the age of eight; his first professional acting role was as Puck in a regional production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1965. In 1967, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a stand-up comedian and acted in dinner theater and Off-Broadway productions. Varney got a big break in 1976, when he was cast as a regular in the variety television series Johnny Cash and Friends. He went on to appear in a number of short-lived TV shows, including Operation Petticoat (1977), Fernwood 2-Night (1977), The New Operation Petticoat (1978), and Pink Lady (1980).

Varney first introduced his signature character of Ernest P. Worrell in a regional television commercial in 1972. In the 1980s, Varney parlayed Ernest's accident-prone, denim-clad rube shtick into hundreds of commercials -- for products ranging from ice cream, cars, fast food, soft drinks, and furniture. Varney's first big-screen appearance came in 1986, when the rubber-faced comic played Ernest and a number of other characters in Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam, which he cowrote. In 1987, Disney released Ernest Goes to Camp, cowritten and directed by John Cherry, an advertising executive who came up with the original idea for the Ernest character. The film, made for a paltry $3.5 million, took in $24 million at the box office. Ernest Saves Christmas (1988), made for $6 million, earned $28 million. Building on the successful performance of the first two Ernest movies, Varney made three more with Disney; five others were released independently, largely for television markets. The series eventually included Ernest Goes to Jail (1990), Ernest Rides Again (1993), Ernest Goes to School (1994), and Ernest in the Army (1998).

The popularity of the Ernest character spawned a whole line of merchandise over the years, including tie-in products such as a line of greeting cards and a talking doll. In 1988, Varney hosted a Saturday morning children's show, Hey Vern, It's Ernest, for which he won an Emmy Award for Best Performer in a Children's Series. He also made guest appearances on such popular TV shows as Roseanne and the animated series The Simpsons.

Varney's first film in a lead role other than Ernest was the 1993 big-screen version of the comedy TV series Beverly Hillbillies, in which he played Jed Clampett. He also lent his distinctive voice to the character of Slinky Dog in the blockbuster animated features Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999).

In 1998, Varney was diagnosed with lung cancer. He subsequently underwent surgery to remove most of his right lung, followed by radiation treatments. Varney publicly disclosed his battle with cancer in 1999, but continued to work, filming his last project, Daddy and Them, starring and directed by Billy Bob Thornton. He died on February 10, 2000, in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 50.

Singer Ella Fitzgerald 1917 – 1996

Singer. Born Ella Jane Fitzgerald on April 25, 1917 in Newport News, Virginia. After a troubled childhood, including the death of her mother in 1932, Fitzgerald turned to singing and debuted at the Apollo Theater in 1934 at age 17. She was discovered in an amateur contest in Harlem and joined Chick Webb's band and recorded several hits, notably "A-tisket A-tasket" (1938).

After Webb died in 1939, his band was renamed Ella Fitzgerald and her Famous Orchestra. Two years later, she began her solo career and by the mid-1950s, she had become the first African-American to perform at the Mocambo. Her lucid intonation and broad range made her a top jazz singer. Her series of recordings for Verve (1955-9) in multi-volume "songbooks" are among the treasures of American popular song. Fitzgerald is known as "The First Lady of Song," and was the most popular American female jazz singer for over fifty years. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums.

With the exception of Jazz at Santa Monica Civic '72, her latter recordings marked a decline in her voice due to complications from diabetes. The disease left her blind, and she had both legs amputated in 1994. She made her last recording in 1989 and her last public performance in 1991 at New York's Carnegie Hall. Ella Fitzgerald died on June 15, 1996 in her Beverly Hills home.

Fitzgerald was briefly married to Benny Kornegay, a convicted drug dealer and hustler, in 1941. She was married to bass player Ray Brown from 1947 to 1952; they adopted a child born to Fitzgerald's half-sister whom they christened Ray Brown, Jr. Fitzgerald.