Mega-star Patsy Cline, born September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia, is one of the most influential vocalists and one of the most successful country artists ever. She began performing on a radio station when she was fifteen, which led to more appearances. She made her first national television appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, where she performed Walkin' After Midnight, her first big hit.
Her first single to reach #1 was I Fall to Pieces in 1961.
She was killed in a plane crash in 1963.
In 1973, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the first female artist to be included. In 1995, Cline received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her hits I Fall to Pieces and Crazy have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame,
Our heroes seem to be dropping all around us. First Angela Lansbury, then Apollo astronaut James McDivitt, and now, first Dutch-born astronaut Lodewijk van den Berg passed away October 16 at the age of 90. He was born March 24, 1932 in the Netherlands, but was a naturalized American citizen when he went into space and no longer a Dutch citizen.
He went into space aboard Challenger (STS-51-B) in April-May 1985 as a payload specialist. He was responsible for the Vapor Crystal Growth System experiment. After returning to Earth, he continued work on crystal growth, even when he was 72.
An asteroid was named after him and is known as 11430 Lodewijkberg. He passed away in Florida, but no cause of death has been cited.
Lodewijk van den Berg, born March 24, 1932 in the Netherlands, went into space aboard Challenger (STS-51-B) as payload specialist in April-May 1985. Although he was born in the Netherlands, he had become an American citizen by the time he went into space.
Frank Petersen, born March 2, 1932 in Topeka, Kansas, was the first African-American Marine Corps aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps general.
He enlisted in the US Navy in June 1950 and served as an electronics technician, but he vowed to a combat pilot. He entered the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in 1951 and completed flight training in October 1952. He accepted a commission as second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
In February 1979, he was promoted to brigadier general, the first African-American to achieve the rank in the US Marine Corps. In May 1983, he was promoted to major general and in June 1986, to lieutenant general. He was Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, VA in July 1988 when he retired.
Kim Hamilton, born September 12, 1932 in Los Angeles, was an actress that broke down race barriers in television. She is the only African-American to appear in that bastion of whiteness, Leave it to Beaver. She also starred in the Twilight Zone and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
She also appeared in the B-movie The Leech Woman.
She was married to Werner Klemperer (Hogan's Heroes) from 1998 to 2000, when he passed away. Hamilton passed away in September 2013 of natural causes at 81.
Edwin "Jake" Garn, born October 12, 1932 in Richfield, Utah, went into space aboard Discovery (STS-51-D) as payload specialist in April 1985.
Garn asked to fly on the shuttle since he was head of the Senate appropriations committee that dealt with NASA. He was a US Senator for Utah from December 1974 to January 1993.
Actor Ted Cassidy, born July 1932, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is best known for his role as the faithful butler to the Addams Family, which ran for two seasons in the mid-1960's. He was a successful actor but also found success doing voice-overs. He appeared on Star Trek as Ruk on What Are Little Girls Made Of?. He provided the voice of Balok's puppet in the Corbomite Maneuver and Gorn in Arena.
He appeared in I Dream of Jeannie, The Six-Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. He even provided the voice for Godzilla in the animated series in the late 1970's.
He passed away in January 1979 following heart surgery.
Grant Woods, born March 13, 1932 in Vim, Colorado, played Lieutenant Kelowitz in three episodes of the original series of Star Trek, which is kind of unusual for a character that made little more than cameos. He appeared in Galileo Seven, Arena and This Side of Paradise.
He passed away in October 1968 from a motorcycle accident.
Susan Oliver, born February 13, 1932 in New York City, New York, gained a minor cult following after her appearance in the original Star Trek pilot, The Cage. The pilot was not approved and another pilot show was filmed. The Cage was later edited and inserted into the Star Trek episode, The Menagerie.
It was her only role in the Star Trek universe but she did appear in the Twilight Zone and Murder, She Wrote.
Joe Engle, born August 26, 1932 in Chapman, Kansas, was chosen by NASA as an astronaut in 1966. He was the backup pilot for the Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 14. He was originally scheduled as Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 17 but NASA selected Harrison Schmitt instead.
His first mission into space was aboard Columbia (STS-2) as commander with pilot Richard Truly in November 1981. The mission was intended to reboot the Skylab space station but due to development delays and the Skylab's deteriorating orbit, Skylab was de-orbited in July 1979.
His second and final mission was as commander of Discovery (STS-51-I) in August-September 1985. He spent just over 7 days in space.
Joseph Kerwin, born February 19, 1932 in Oak Park, Illinois, went into space aboard Skylab 2. He received a Doctor of Medicine degree from Northwestern University Medical School in 1957 and became a naval flight surgeon in 1958.
NASA selected him as an astronaut in 1965, the first physician to selected for astronaut training. He launched aboard Skylab 2 as science pilot May 25, 1973 and returned to Earth June 22. He performed one EVA during the mission with fellow astronaut Pete Conrad lasting 3 hours, 25 minutes.
Cosmonaut Nikolai Rukavishnikov, born September 18, 1932, is a veteran of three Soyuz missions, only one of which was successful.
His first mission was aboard Soyuz 10 in April 1971 as Test Engineer. The Soyuz crew tried to dock with Salyut 1, but failed. They returned two days later.
His second mission was as Flight Engineer on Soyuz 16 in December 1974. It was a test flight for the Apollo-Soyuz mission the following year. The mission was successful and the crew returned after almost 6 days in space.
His third and final mission was as Commander aboard Soyuz 33 in April 1979. They attempted to dock with Salyut 6 but an engine failure forced the mission to be aborted. They returned to Earth after less than two days.
Kenji Sahara, born May 14, 1932 in Kanagawa, Japan, is an Japanese actor, but his real name is Masayoshi Kato. He initially used the name Tadashi Ishihara before changing it to Kenji Sahara, when he got the lead role in Rodan in 1956.
He starred in the original Godzilla in 1954 and has starred in more Godzilla series than any other actor.
With actor Akihiko Hirata, Sahara starred in the debuts of Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah!
Alan Bean, born March 15, 1932 in Wheeler, Texas (that's in the panhandle just north of Shamrock), made his first trip into space aboard Apollo 12, becoming the fourth man to walk on the moon. NASA slected him as part of Astronaut Group 3 in 1963 and was assigned backup command pilot for Gemini X. He was assigned as backup crew for Apollo 9 when fellow astronaut Clifton Williams was killed when his T-38 jet trainer crashed.
Bean was launched on Apollo 12 in November 1969. The spacecraft was struck by lightning 36 seconds after launch and Bean restored telemetry by executing the "Flight, try SCE to 'Aux'" task. The lunar lander touched down in the Ocean of Storms within walking distance of the probe Surveyor 3, which had landed in April 1967. Bean and Pete Conrad removed parts of the probe to return to Earth for testing.
Bean was then assigned as commander of Skylab 3, with Owen Garriott and Jack Lousma. During the mission, Bean tested a prototype of the Manned Maneuvering Unit and performed an EVA outside Skylab.
He resigned from NASA in June 1981 to devote time to his painting.
Lovely Momoko Kochi, born March 7, 1932 in Tokyo, Japan, is probably best known for her appearance as Emiko in Godzilla in 1954. She recreated her role as Emiko in the 1995 movie Godzilla vs. Destroyah. It was her last film appearance before her death from intestinal cancer in November 1988.
She had been cast in several monster movies so to keep from being typecast, she underwent serious training and appeared on stage and television. She mastered her craft so completely, she was able to wrap up all of her scenes in Godzilla vs. Destroyah in one day.
Alfred Worden, born February 7, 1932 in Jackson, Michigan, went to the moon on Apollo 15 July-August 1971. He remained in the command module Endeavour in orbit above the moon while David Scott and James Irwin explored the lunar surface.
He said he spent "three wonderful days in a spacecraft all by myself" about his experience. As a result of the "stamp incident", he and the other Apollo crewmen never went into space again.
Gerald Paul Carr, born August 22, 1932 in Denver, Colorado, is one of three rookie astronauts on Skylab 4, the third and last manned mission to the space station. He was one of the original 19 astronauts chosen by NASA in 1966. For over 4 years, Carr and his fellow Skylab 4 astronauts held the record for the longest stay in space, 184 days.
During the mission, the Skylab astronauts got worn out from their hectic work schedule and finally ceased radio transmissions to and from Mission Control for a day. NASA was furious, of course, but it did lead to some revising of work schedules and the astronauts ended up completing more work that originally planned.
Carr was on the rotation for Apollo 19 but the mission was cancelled in 1970.
Paul Joseph Weitz, born July 25, 1932, is a veteran of the Skylab 2 mission and commander of the initial Space Shuttle Challenger flight. It was likely that he would have been chosen as Command Module Pilot for the Apollo 20 mission had it not been cancelled.
He's spent 793 hours in space. He performed an EVA during the Skylab mission lasting a little over an hour and a half.
Cosmonaut Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov, born March 16, 1927 in the Soviet Union, and astronaut R. Walt Cunningham, born March 16, 1932, are both heroes but whose stories end completely different.
Komarov, close friends with Yuri Gagarin, flew his first mission on Voskhod 1 in October 1964 with crew members Boris Yegorov and Konstantin Feoktistov. The flight lasted just over twenty four hours and its success awarded Komarov the Order of Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union.
He was assigned to the Soyuz program to fly on Soyuz 1 April 1967. Long before the launch, Komarov knew there were major problems with the space capsule and feared that he would be killed if he flew in it. He wanted to refuse the mission, but his backup was Gagarin and Komarov did not want his friend to die.
Soyuz 1 launched April 23 and experienced problems shortly after launch. Upon re-entry, the parachutes did not deploy correctly and got tangled with the spacecraft. Komarov fell several miles to Earth. His last words were of him cursing the men who put him in a botched spacecraft.
Ronnie Walter Cunningham flew on Apollo 7, October 11, 1968 with Wally Schirra (who celebrated his birthday just a couple of days ago) and Donn Eisle. During the mission, Schirra developed a head cold and without the benefit of gravity, could not clear his sinuses. When the crew prepared for re-entry, they refused to wear their helmets. Schirra feared if he blew his nose, he might suffer a pierced ear drum.
As a result of this "mutiny" none of the Apollo 7 astronauts were assigned to future missions.
Majel Barrett, born February 23, 1932, is one of the most endearing characters of the Star Trek franchise. She appeared as Number One in The Cage, the pilot for the series, and then as Nurse Christine Chapel for the rest of the run. She appeared as Lwaxana Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space 9. She is the voice of the computers in all of the spin-offs.
Majel married Gene Roddenberry in 1969 and remained together until his death in 1991. She passed away in 2008 from leukemia.
