Warsaw for Wear

Wojciech Jaruzelski, the last First Comrade of Communist Poland, has died at the age of 91. He came to power in 1981 as First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party and Prime Minister when somehow his predecessor got caught on tape criticizing Soviet leadership. His first major action was to impose martial law to crush burgeoning pro-Democracy movements, including Solidarity, claiming that he was doing so to avoid a Soviet invasion. Documents later showed that he had actually requested the Soviets to step in to help put down the democracy movement and when they declined, he used his own jack-booted thugs. Journalists were silenced, opposition leaders disappeared or were killed, food and consumer goods were rationed, median income fell by 40% and 700,000 people got the hell out of Dolsk while Jaruzelski was in charge. But we should still totally credit Reagan and Thatcher for bringing down the Soviet Union because this in no way suggests that totalitarian communist regimes inevitably collapse under their own weight. As a teen, Jaruzelski had escaped the German occupation of Poland by running off to Lithuania just in time to be occupied by the Soviet Union. He was sent to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic to work in coal mines, where he experienced the snow blindness – which apparently is a thing – that forced him to wear the dark sunglasses that became his signature. Jaruzelski joined the Soviet-controlled Polish Army, where he helped in the takeover of Warsaw, though in their defense, Indiana didn’t even know they were coming. He rose through the Polish military ranks, fighting the anti-communists whose ranks he had once dreamed of joining and leading the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. He later became Minister of Defense, where he was able to deny that 27,000 troops under his command had massacred Polish civilians. He took over as head of state in 1985, but the glory days of Communism had passed, and he resigned in 1990, ceding power to the democratically elected Lech Walesa. 

Range on Harlem

Herb Jeffries, Hollywood’s first black singing cowboy, has died of heart failure at the age of 100. Jeffries made movie history as the black Roy Rogers, as a singing cowboy with a Clark Gable mustache and a white hat – some clichés know no racial lines – in several low-budget 1930s Westerns with all-black casts, including Harlem Rides the Range and The Bronze Buckaroo, and he was a prominent part of Rhythm Rodeo. Jeffries, who had grown up on a farm, came up with the idea after seeing The Terror of Tiny Town, the all-midget Western and decided that niche oaters was the wave of the future. He later performed as a baritone with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, with his biggest hit being "Flamingo," which sold in the millions long before million-selling recordings were commonplace. Jeffries was largely forgotten until a 1992 retrospective at the Gene Autry Museum, the discovery of several long-list prints of his films and noted film preservationist Mario Van Peebles’ use of clips from Jeffries’ films in his 1993 movie Posse.

Range on Harlem

Herb Jeffries, Hollywood’s first black singing cowboy, has died of heart failure at the age of 100. Jeffries made movie history as the black Roy Rogers, as a singing cowboy with a Clark Gable mustache and a white hat – some clichés know no racial lines – in several low-budget 1930s Westerns with all-black casts, including Harlem Rides the Range and The Bronze Buckaroo, and he was a prominent part of Rhythm Rodeo. Jeffries, who had grown up on a farm, came up with the idea after seeing The Terror of Tiny Town, the all-midget Western and decided that niche oaters was the wave of the future. He later performed as a baritone with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, with his biggest hit being "Flamingo," which sold in the millions long before million-selling recordings where commonplace. Jeffries was largely forgotten until a 1992 retrospective at the Gene Autry Museum, the discovery of several long-list prints of his films and noted film preservationist Mario Van Peebles’ use of clips from Jeffries’ films in his 1993 movie Posse.

Sunsetted

Or

86 Sunset Strip

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., who was indirectly responsible for the disaster at Waco, has died at the age of 95. The star of the long-running series The FBI, Zimbalist was honored several times by the agency, who said that his performance inspired many men and women to join, some of whom may have been in positions of authority in 1990 during David Koresh’s barbecue gone awry. Other roles included a hipster PI with beatnik part-time flunky/parking lot attendant Edd “Kookie” Byrnes in 77 Sunset Strip, a recurring gig as a con artist in Remington Steele opposite daughter Stephanie, the voice of Alfred Pennyworth in several Batman cartoon series, an airplane captain in Airport 1975 who is blinded by a mid-air accident, putting head stewardess Karen Black in the pilot’s seat based on strict laws of succession. Airport 1975 and another Zimbalist feature, The Crowded Sky, provided prominent grist for the parody mill in Airplane!, and Zimbalist followed Leslie Nielsen’s against-type performance in that film with his own in Hot Shots!

Sunsetted

Or

86 Sunset Strip

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., who was indirectly responsible for the disaster at Waco, has died at the age of 95. The star of the long-running series The FBI, Zimbalist was honored several times by the agency, who said that his performance inspired many men and women to join, some of whom may have been in positions of authority in 1990 during David Koresh’s barbecue gone awry. Other roles included a hipster PI with beatnik part-time flunky/parking lot attendant Edd “Kookie” Byrnes in 77 Sunset Strip, a recurring gig as a con artist in Remington Steele opposite daughter Stephanie, the voice of Alfred Pennyworth in several Batman cartoon series, an airplane captain in Airport 1975 who is blinded by a mid-air accident, putting head stewardess Karen Black in the pilot’s seat based on strict laws of succession. Airport 1975 and another Zimbalist feature, The Crowded Sky, provided prominent grist for the parody mill in Airplane!, and Zimbalist followed Leslie Nielsen’s against-type performance in that film with his own in Hot Shots!