Donald Findlay QC

Donald Findlay QC

 Donald Findlay QC was born on 17 March 1951. He is an advocate and Queen’s Counsel in Scotland and has served as a defence lawyer in many high-profile murder cases.

He is well known for a distinctive style of dress and manner, particularly the smoking of a pipe, as well as his staunch support for Unionism in Scotland and the Scottish Conservatives.

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Air Cadets in 1951 …

Air Cadets in 1951 …

Air Cadet is a 1951 American drama film starring Stephen McNally, Gail Russell and Richard Long. Air Cadet featured United States Air Force (USAF) pilots in training along with actors mixed into the training courses.The film had a small early role for 26-year-old Rock Hudson and a scene with future astronaut Gus Grissom. If you like swimming pools and fast flying then you should watch the clip below.

Meanwhile, back on British soil, here is a Pathe News item featuring the cadet graduation ceremony at RAF Cranwell in 1951 during which the then Princess Elizabeth was the guest of honour. And not a swimming pool in site.

Nick Ut … photographer … born 1951

Nick Ut … photographer

Huỳnh Công Út, known professionally as Nick Ut was born on March 29, 1951. He is a photographer for the Associated Press. He won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography for “The Terror of War”, depicting children in flight from a napalm bombing. In particular, his best-known photo features a naked 9-year-old girl, Phan Thị Kim Phúc, running toward the camera from a South Vietnamese napalm attack on North Vietnamese invaders at the Trảng Bàng village during the Vietnam War in June 1972. He is pictured here holding a copy of this now iconic photograph.

Born in Long An, Vietnam, Ut began to take photographs for the Associated Press when he was 16, just after his older brother Huynh Thanh My, another AP photographer, was killed in Vietnam. Ut himself was wounded three times in the war in his knee, arm, and stomach. Ut has since worked for the Associated Press in Tokyo,South Korea, and Hanoi and still maintains contact with Kim Phuc, who now resides in Canada.

Follow these links for more background information :

1. News article – 40th anniversary of photograph 2012
2. News article from 2014

 

With this ring I thee wed … in 1951 (Part 1)

 WITH THIS RING I THEE WED … IN 1951

(Part 1)

 

1951 was a pretty good year for celebrity weddings.

1951-1962

Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis were a glittering Hollywood couple, the Cruise and Kidman of the 1950s. Wherever they went, Curtis’ roguish good looks and Leigh’s childlike beauty drew the lenses of the paparazzi. Successful and ambitious, for a while they had it ‘all’, and that included love and two fine children called Kelly and Jamie lee. They divorced in 1962.

1951-1957

Frank Sinatra met Ava Gardner in 1944, but saw her only sporadically until late 1949, when they began their relationship.They married in 1951. Their relationship was tempestuous and both were frequently made jealous by the other’s extramarital affairs. They separated in October 1953 and divorced in 1957.

1951-2009

Actor Patrick McGoohan married actress Joan Drummond in 1951 and it lasted until McGoohan’s death in 2009. Their marriage took place between a rehearsal and evening performance of The Taming of the Shrew, a production they were both cast in. They had three daughters, Catherine, Anne and Frances. 

John Deacon … Breaking Free in 1951

 

John Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as the bassist for the phenomenally successful rock band Queen. Of the four members of the band, he was the last to join and also the youngest, being only natural nineteen years old when he was recruited in February 1971.

Deacon wrote a number of Queen’s many hit singles including You’re My Best Friend, I Want to Break Free, Back Chat, Spread Your Wings, and the band’s biggest selling single in the United States, Another One Bites the Dust, as well as a number of other album tracks. He also played electric and acoustic guitars on several albums and, to a lesser extent, keyboards, synthesizers, programming and drums. He very occasionally provided backing vocals during live shows. What a talented musician!

Following the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert In 1992, Deacon only performed 2 more times with the remaining members of Queen, in a charity concert in 1993 and a one-off rendition of The Show Must Go On in 1997 with Mercury’s friend Elton John. He played bass guitar on the final Queen song, No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young) – released that year on the Queen Rocks compilation – after which he retired from the music industry.

Kim Peek … the original Rain Man … 1951

Kim Peak (Picture Wikipedia/GFDL)

Kim Peak (1951-2009) was an American savant. He had an exceptional memory, but also experienced social problems, possibly resulting  from a developmental disability related to congenital brain abnormalities. He was the inspiration for the character of Raymond Babbit, played by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man. He died of a heart attack at home on December 19, 2009, aged just 58.

 

From an early age he read books, memorized them, and then placed them upside down on the shelf to show that he had finished reading them, a practice he maintained all his life. He could speed through a book in about an hour and remember everything he had read, memorizing vast amounts of information in a wide range of subjects.

 

When he attended school, aged 7, he was expelled for being uncontrollable after just 7 minutes in class. Thereafter he was tutored at home and completed the high school curriculum four years ahead of schedule. When he was 18 he was hired by a firm to manage the payroll of 160 people, a task he performed in a few hours a week without the need of a calculator. In his early 30s he was laid off because the management had decided to computerized the payroll. It took two full-time accountants, plus the computer, to replace him.

It has been said that he could accurately recall the contents of at least 12,000 books. He lived in Murray, Utah and spent a considerable amount of his time reading at the Salt Lake City Library. The Rainman movie led to a number of requests for personal appearances which increased his personal confidence. He enjoyed approaching strangers and showing them his talent for calendar calculations by telling them on which day of the week they were born and what news items were on the front page of major newspapers. He also appeared on television. Click here to view a short piece courtesy of Youtube. (Takes a few seconds to load)

Robin Williams (1951 – 2014)

   Yesterday we learned of the tragic and untimely death of the actor and comedian Robin Williams. Born in 1951, he was undoubtedly one of the finest and most original talents of his generation.
He first rose to fame in his role as Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy. He went on to establish a successful career in stand-up comedy and feature film acting. His films included Good Will Hunting, Good Morning Vietnam, Mrs Doubtfire, Dead Poets Society and many more.
He was the recipient of an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and five Grammy Awards.

His death has prompted an outpouring of tributes from around the world including this one from his wife Susan – This morning, I lost my husband and my best friend, while the world lost one of its most beloved and beautiful human beings. I am utterly heartbroken.

I will leave the final words to Robin Williams himself, or rather as his wonderful creation Mork of Mork and Mindy.

Rupert Allason …

Rupert Allason ( born 8th November 1951) is a military historian and former Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament for Torbay in Devon, from 1987 to 1997. He writes books on the subject of espionage under the pen name Nigel West.

Nikki Kelly

Nicki Kelly is an English actress born in November 1951. She is best known for her role as the lovely Yellowcoat Sylvia Garnsey in the long running British sitcom Hi-de-Hi!

She was born in Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, and made an early television appearance in Dixon of Dock Green in 1975, and You’re Driving Me Crazy in 1978.

A Tale of Two Farthings …

This British Farthing was one of over 14 million minted in 1951 during the reign of George VI. It had a diameter of 22mm and was worth a quarter of a pre- decimal Penny. The tiny bird on the reverse is a wren.
They may have been small and of little value but the really important thing to remember is ….

…. that Fruit Salads and Black Jacks  only cost a farthing each way back in the 1950s and early 1960s.
These delicious sweets are still around  but not at four a penny mind you!
The last Farthings were minted in 1956 and ceased to be legal tender in 1960.

This is a picture of singer Katie Kissoon.
Katie was born in 1951 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and her birthname was …. Katherine Farthing.
Her family emigrated to the UK in the early 60s and along with her brother Mac she began what was to become a very successful recording career.

Katie has worked with the likes of James Last, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Elkie Brooks, Elton John, George Harrison, the Pet Shop Boys and Robbie Williams.