Great and Famous

The Great, Famous and Infamous tells how the 19th and 20th Centuries have proved to be the most significant, exciting and in every way the most dynamic centuries of history, making great leaps forward in every department of human knowledge.
What has been the principal driving force in these astounding advances? The answer lies in the human race itself which has had the great good fortune to produce within that time period, men and women of vision, inspiration, tenacity and that special indefinable quality of leadership, not always, but providentially mainly for the good.
There follows a selection, and it can only be a selection of these giants of mankind as a tribute to the way each of them to some degree shaped the world as it is today and in which we all live.
There are 15 regular sections plus a special section. Please left click above on your area of interest to be transported to the top of the page in which it starts. Also CLICK HERE to be taken to an index of famous people included

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770 - 1827) As both his father and grandfather had been musicians, it was certain that he would follow their footsteps. It became obvious the the young Ludwig that Vienna in Austria was more fruitful ground for an aspiring musician and he moved there.
Making influential friends, he became much in demand as a fashionable pianist and teacher. To his misfortune he began in 1796 to go deaf and by 1802 his hearing was seriously impaired. This only made him more determined to continue to compose.
His music from this time onwards was more powerful than anything anyone had written before. It appeared to describe a struggle to the end between enormous forces.
Some of Beethoven’s music was considered unplayable at the time but was later accepted as masterpieces. Brahms, Mendelssohn and Wagner all admired his work.

IRVING BERLIN (1888 - 1989). Irving Berlin was born Israel Baline in Russia. At the age of five his family emigrated to America and settled in New York. He lost his father at an early age and so had to go out to work when he should have been at school. Working at various jobs including street singer and singing waiter, he eventually landed a job with a music publisher as a lyric writer. He quickly took to writing tunes also even though he could not read music. His first big hit was in 1911 with “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” . His speciality was writing songs for Broadway shows and movies. His output totalled over 800 songs including “Top Hat” (1935), “Easter Parade” (1948), and “There’s no Business Like Show Business” (1954).

LENNON & MCARTNEY (1940 - 1980, 1942 - ). Back in 1957 John Lennon and James Paul McCartney were just two Liverpool teenagers. They enjoyed a mutual interest and passion for “Rock and Roll” music. They were very different in character the former being wild and rebellious, the latter more studious. What they did not know was that in the 1960‘s they, together would revolutionise popular music.
As the songwriters for the most famous pop group ever “The Beatles” the amazing success of their songs kept them at the top of the charts for seven years.

FRANZ LISZT (1811 - 1886). A most precocious child Franz began to play the piano at the age of five, giving his first public concert at the age of nine. An influential group of Hungarians were so impressed that they funded his music studies in Vienna and Paris. By the time he was twelve he was being compared with the greatest performers of the day.
Not just a fine pianist Liszt was a prolific composer. His music was both technically advanced and very adventurous.
One of his creations was the symphonic poem, an orchestral piece which told a story in music; but he also wrote vast quantities of all other kinds of music.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756 -1791) When a violinist living in Salzburg Leopold Mozart became aware that his children Maria and Wolfgang, were exceptional talents musically, he immediately began to teach them everything he knew. But it came as a complete surprise for him to learn just how much of a prodigy Wolfgang was. The lad was composing some sophisticated pieces by the age of five and was just as talented as a performer on the harpsichord. From 1762 onwards Leopold took his children on tour to Munich and Vienna travelling on throughout Germany France and England. In 1770 they toured Italy. Eventually the touring came to an end and Wolfgang joined his father as one of the Archbishop of Salzburg’s court musicians. In 1781 he went to Vienna, determined to make his own way. He taught and gave concerts, composed music of all kinds and for a time was very successful. Things, however deteriorated and his later years were spent in poverty. He was given the cheapest of funerals and was soon forgotten.
He wrote 41 symphonies and 27 piano concertos together with four very fine operas.

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797 - 1828) In his childhood, Franz Schubert showed a precocious talent for music. His father taught him to play the violin and his brother the piano. At nine years old he studied harmony and counterpoint ( the art of adding melody as an accompaniment).
He became, in 1808 a chorister of the imperial court chapel. In addition to founding a students orchestra, he wrote music . On leaving college he became a schoolmaster but soon gave that up to write music. Although only 30 when he died Schubert wrote a great deal of music including nine symphonies, several operas and over 600 songs. Although never a financial success he was popular and lived a very happy life.

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840 - 1893) If you are a music or ballet lover you will need no introduction to Tchaikovsky. Songs, symphonies, operas, ballets and concertos flowed from his pen. Growing up in the town of Votkinsk, he was a scion of a wealthy family. He was educated from the age of eight at a boarding school in St. Petersburg, becoming a law student.
At the age of 23 he decided to devote his life to music; enrolling in Russia’s first Conservatory of Music the master of which was the brilliant pianist Anton Rubenstein.
At 26 he wrote his first symphony followed by some piano pieces. He composed difficult piano works which even Rubenstein found hard to play. However his fairy tale ballets such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker were those for which he is best remembered. In spite of his great success he was often depressed and died under suspicious circumstances with a suggestion he may have committed suicide.

CHARLIE CHAPLIN (1889 - 1977) His mother was a music-hall entertainer and from the age of five, Chaplin was part of the act. Eventually his mother became ill and Charlie was sent to an orphanage. He moved, in 1910 to America and in 1914 began to appear in films, becoming the best-loved comedian of the silent film era. His now famous moustache, bowler hat, cane and baggy trousers were his trade mark. He graduated to writing and directing his own films which evolved with other famous artists of the time into the film studio “United Artists”
In his most famous films such as “The Kid” and the “Gold Rush”, he played the part of a sad little tramp bullied by the system, but who always bounced back. Later in life he was suspected of Communism and fell temporarily from favour . However true to his screen persona he bounced back and received a special Oscar in 1972.

ELLA FITZGERALD (1918 - 1996) This fabulous singer was brought up in an orphanage in New York. She started singing by accident as a result of a dare. At 16, she entered an amateur contest and won $25. There followed a contract to sing with the Chick Webb band.
She introduced jazz to a new audience in the 1950‘s. Her flawless diction and crystal-clear tones were unequalled as demonstrated in her ‘songbook’ albums recorded in the 50‘s.
Each contained the work of a popular songwriter such as Cole Porter or Irving Berlin.

MICHAEL JACKSON (1958 - 2009) Michael was hailed as a singing and dancing prodigy from the age of six. In 1970 he and his brothers formed a group called “The Jackson Five” and in 1971 he began his solo career.
On the set of the film “The Wiz” in 1978 Michael met the music producer Quincy Jones and there began a collaboration . The result was three best selling albums “Off The Wall”, “Thriller”, and “Dangerous”. During the 1990‘s Jackson had a short lived marriage to Lisa-Marie Presley and subsequent attempts at marriage have also proved unsuccessful. In 2001 his album “Invincible” topped the charts.

BUSTER KEATON (1895 - 1966) Joseph (Buster) Keaton was the son of comedians. He, at an early age became part of their stage act and acquired the name “Buster” when he fell down stairs but survived unhurt. Later he teamed up with the comedian “Fatty” Arbuckle to make short films. In the year 1919 he commenced making his own films which included such as “The Navigator” the plot of which involved him escaping from one disaster after another without a change of facial expression.
In his greatest film, “The General” (1927) he played a train driver caught up in the Civil War in America. The arrival of “talking pictures” put an end to his career.

GLENN MILLER (1904 - 1944) This outstanding musician and bandleader studied at university before taking up the trombone. He was recognised as an outstanding trombonist but did not have instant success as a band leader. He formed the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1937 with a revolutionary ‘big sound’ using a larger than usual number of saxophones, and such compositions as “Moonlight Serenade” and “Pennsylvania 65000” made his band very popular.
The band also made two films ‘Sun Valley Serenade’ and ‘Orchestra Wives“ in 1941 and 1942 respectively. Given a commission in World War II he led the Air Force band playing in Europe. On a journey between Paris and London his plane went missing and no trace of him was ever found.

MARILYN MONROE (1926 - 1962) Born Norma Jean Mortenson, Marilyn had an unhappy childhood in foster homes in Los Angeles due to her mothers mental illness. Following her early career in modelling and minor film roles, Monroe starred in her first big film ‘Niagara’ in 1953. Most notable in her film career were the two hits “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and “Some Like it Hot” with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, both comedic roles. She could however also play ‘serious’ roles such as ‘The Misfits’, her last film.
Married three times her husbands included the baseball star Joe DiMaggio and the playwright Arthur Miller. Her death from a drug overdose in 1962 shocked her fans and she is remembered as one of Hollywood’s most beautiful stars.

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