1977, Deaths: Patricia Haines

On February 25 1977, Patricia Haines died from lung cancer at the age of 45. She was survived by her husband actor Bernard Kay whom she married in 1963.

Patricia Haines was was born on 3 February 1932 in Sheffield, Yorkshire. She is best known for her television work including “Dixon of Dock Green”, “Steptoe and Son”, “The Avengers” (she appeared in three episodes: “The Nutshell”, “The Master Minds” and “Who's Who?”), “Danger Man”, “Public Eye”, “The Baron”, “Softly, Softly”, “Adam Adamant Lives!”, “The Champions”, “The Saint”, “Department S”, “Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)”, “Up Pompeii!”, “Emmerdale Farm”, “Special Branch”, “The Protectors” and “Within These Walls”.

Patricia Haines with Steve Forrest, Nosher Powell and
Artro Morris in "The Baron: Epitaph for a Hero".

She was the first wife of actor Michael Caine. They were married from 1955 to 1962 and had a daughter, Dominique.

Patricia Haines with Diana Rigg in "The Avengers: Who's Who?"

1972, Deaths: Dan Blocker

After 13 seasons (1959 – 1972) of playing Hoss Cartwright, the "gentle giant" brother on Bonanza, actor Dan Blocker died unexpectedly, shortly before filming was to begin for the final season (1972-1973). Only 43 at the time of his death, Blocker died on May 13, 1972, of a pulmonary embolism (a post-operational blood clot to the lungs) following a "routine" gall bladder surgery. Blocker was buried in Woodmen Cemetery, DeKalb, Texas.

"After Dan's death," said Lorne Green (who starred as Ben Cartwright, father to Hoss), "I didn't see how the show could continue. I said to my wife, 'That's it. It's finished.'"

Dan Blocker was born on December 10, 1928, in DeKalb, Texas as Bobby Don Blocker. When he was six the family moved to O'Donnell, in West Texas. Dan attended local schools before entering Texas Military Institute in San Antonio at twelve. He studied at Hardin-Simmons University and then entered Sul Ross State Teachers College in Alpine in 1947. He became a star football player at Sul Ross.

Dan Blocker High School Yearbook Photo (1946)

Dan Blocker, age 18, with Bill Echols in 1946

At college Blocker became interested in acting. He acted during summer in Boston and served afterwards as infantry sergeant with the 45the Division in Korea. In 1952 he returned to Sul Ross, where he earned an M.A. Degree and married Dolphia Lee Parker, on August 25, 1952. Blocker was a teacher in Sonora, Texas, and Carlsbad, New Mexico, before moving to California in 1956 to work on a Ph.D. degree at the University of California at Los Angeles. During this time he also worked as a substitute teacher at Glendale and began his career as a professional actor in Los Angeles.

Dan Blocker with his wife Dolphia Lee Parker and children Dirk Blocker,
David Blocker, Debra Lee Blocker and Danna Lynn Blocker

Dan Blocker with his four children Dirk Blocker,
David Blocker, Debra Lee Blocker and Danna Lynn Blocker

In 1959 he was cast in the role of "Hoss" Cartwright on the television series 'Bonanza'. Blocker became a popular actor and successful businessman, he was co-owner of a nationwide chain of steak houses called Bonanza. In 1963 he received the 'Texan of the Year Award' and in 1966 he served as honorary chairman of the Texas Cancer Crusade. He played the role of Hoss Cartwright for thirteen seasons on national television, until his death on May 13, 1972. The television series was terminated soon after his death.

Dan Blocker with Frank Sinatra in the 1968 film "Lady in Cement"

Dan Blocker with Bonanza co-stars Michael Landon and Lorne Greene

Dan Blocker in Bonanza with Michael Landon, Lorne Greene and Mitch Vogel

1966, Deaths: Montgomery Clift

Montgomery Clift died on 23 July, 1966, of a heart ailment in his house at 217 East 61st Street. He was found dead in bed in his New York apartment, he was 45. The cause of death was listed as a heart attack, but a major contributing factor was the cumulative effect of pain killers and liquor.

He was born in Omaha on February 17, 1921, and appeared in public for the first time at the age of 13 in an amateur stage production of "As Husbands Go". During the 1950's Montgomery Clift was one of Hollywood's finest actors, but his life went downhill after he was seriously injured in a car accident in 1956. He made 18 movies and was nominated for an Oscar four times, but never took a statue home. The movies were: "The Search" (1948), "A Place in the Sun" (1951), "From Here to Eternity" (1953), and  "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1961).

Elizabeth Taylor & Montgomery Clift in "A Place in the Sun" (1951)

He often played outsiders like the social climber in "A Place in the Sun", the anguished Catholic priest in "I Confess", the doomed soldier Prewitt in "From Here to Eternity", and the Jewish GI in "The Young Lions".

Montgomery Clift & Donna Reed in "From Here to Eternity" (1953)

Montgomery Clift, Marilyn Monroe & Clark Gable in "The Misfits' (1961)

1976, Deaths: Ivo Van Damme

On 29 December 1976 Ivo Van Damme was killed in a head-on collision, on the auto route between Marseille and Lyon, on his way home from a training session in the south of France. His death, at the age of 22, will always be remembered as one of the great lost talents of modern athletics.

At the 1976 Montreal summer Olympics Van Damme won silver in both the 800 and 1500 m, finishing behind Alberto Juantorena and John Walker, respectively.

Ivo van Damme was born in Brussels on 21 February 1954 as the son of a gendarmerie commandant. He turned to athletics rather late at the age of 17. Until then he played football, he joined his first running club, Daring club of Leuven ion 1970. His breakthrough came in 1973 at the European Junior Championships in Duisburg, he finished fourth behind Steve Ovett.

Montreal 1976 Athletics 800m
1st Alberto Juantoreno (Cuba, 1:43.50),
2nd Ivo Van Damme (Belgium, 1:43.86),
3rd Richard Charles Wohlhuter (USA, 1:44.12)

Montreal 1976 Athletics 800m

Montreal 1976 Athletics 800m

Van Damme is commemorated at an annual international meeting in Brussels, which has become the scene of several record-breaking performances. This is a fitting tribute to a man who appeared to have time on his side but who ran out of that most precious commodity far too soon.

Montreal 1976 Athletics 1500m
1st John Walker (New Zealand, 3:39.17),
2nd Ivo Van Damme (Belgium, 3:39.27),
3rd Paul-Heinz Wellmann (West Germany, 3:39.33)

Montreal 1976 Athletics 1500m

Ivo Van Damme

Montreal 1976 800m

 
Montreal 1976 1500m

1973, Deaths: Lex Barker

May, 11, 1973, Lex Barker, the American film star best known as the screen's eleventh Tarzan, has collapsed and died of a heart attack in a Manhattan street at the age of 53. Barker, whose full name was Alexander Crichlow Barker, was born in New York family and after a university education became a stage actor for some years before joining the United States Army in 1941. He served throughout the Second World War and rose in rank from private to major.

After the war he went to Hollywood and appeared in several films, including Edward Dmytryck's famous racial thriller, "Crossfire", before the producer of the Tarzan films Sol Lessor signed him up for the series in succession to the former Olympic swimming star, Johnny Weissmuller, Barker began with "Tarzan's Magic Fountain" in 1948 and with his blond good looks and splendid physique appeared to be a natural choice for the part. But his reign as Tarzan lasted for only four years and five films and after making "Tarzan and She-Devil" he was replaced by Gordon Scott.

Lex Barker as Tarzan in "Tarzan's Magic Fountain" (1948)

During the 1960s he had success in German and Italian made films. In Italy, he had a short but compelling role as Anita Ekberg's fiancé in Federico Fellini's “La Dolce Vita” (1960). In Germany, he had his greatest success. He starred in two movies based on the "Doctor Mabuse" stories (formerly filmed by Fritz Lang), in the movies “Frauenarzt Dr. Sibelius” and “Frühstück im Doppelbett”, and in 13 movies based on novels by German author Karl May (1842–1912), playing such well-known May characters as Old Shatterhand, Kara Ben Nemsi, and Dr. Sternau.

Lex Barker with Arlene Dahl (1951)

Lex Barker with Lana Turner (1955)



Barker was married five times:

• Constance Rhodes Thurlow (married 27 June 1942, divorced 1950). They had one daughter, Lynn Thurlow Barker (11 April 1943-2010) and a son, Alexander "Zan" Crichlow Barker III (25 March 1947-2 October 2012).
• Actress Arlene Dahl (married 1951, divorced 1952)
• Actress Lana Turner (married September 8, 1953, divorced July 22, 1957).
• Actress Irene Labhardt (married 1957, died in 1962 of leukemia). They had one son, Christopher Barker (born 1960).
• María del Carmen "Tita" Rosario Soledad Cervera y Fernández de la Guerra (married 1965, divorced 1972).

Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand