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Rip Torn was born Elmore Rual Torn Jr. on February 6, 1931 in Temple, Texas, the son of Thelma Mary (Spacek) and Elmore Rudolph Torn, who was an agriculturalist and economist, credited with popularizing the custom of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day. "Rip" is a family name, taken by generations of Torn men and bestowed on Elmore by his father, who was also called "Rip." He was of German, Austrian, Bohemian, and Moravian descent. His mother was an elder sister of actress Sissy Spacek's father, Edwin Spacek.

Torn attended Texas A&M and the University of Texas, where he joined Sigma Chi Fraternity. He majored in animal husbandry. Extremely naïve when he was young, Torn hitchhiked to Hollywood with the idea of becoming a movie star; he wanted to make enough money in order to buy a ranch. Success did not come overnight, as he had hoped, and Torn had to work many odd jobs while occasionally being cast in television roles. He made his feature film debut in Elia Kazan's Baby Doll (1956) in a small part.

Serious about learning his craft, he moved to New York City where he studied under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Torn also studied dance with Martha Graham. His serious acting career began on the small screen, where he made a name for himself in the Golden Age of Television; between 1957 and 1960, he appeared regularly on such prestigious live shows as Omnibus (1952) and Playhouse 90 (1956).

Torn made his Broadway debut in Kazan's staging of Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth" on March 10, 1959, in support of Paul Newman, Sidney Blackmer and Geraldine Page, who would become his second wife. The play was a hit, closing on January 30, 1960 after 375 performances. He won a 1960 Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Theater World award for his role as "Tom, Jr.", a role he recreated in the 1962 film. (Torn also starred as "Boss Finley" in a later television adaptation of the play).

Torn earned a reputation as an actor's actor on stage, both Broadway and off-Broadway, as well as on screen. He continued to work in the New York theater despite his demanding TV and movie schedule as both an actor and director. He won two Obie awards for his work off-Broadway, for Distinguished Performance in Norman Mailer's "The Deer Park" (for the 1966-67 season), and for Distinguished Direction for "The Beard" (1967-68). He had his own stage company, and directed his daughter Angelica Page (by Geraldine Page) in John Paul Alexander's "Strangers in the Land of Canaan" at the Actors Studio. Torn made his feature film directorial debut with The Telephone (1988).

He was constantly in demand as a character actor, in supporting, second lead and occasional lead roles. Arguably his best performance on film came in Payday (1973), and he was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for Cross Creek (1983). Most of Torn's roles were in drama, though he was adept at comedy. His role in Albert Brooks' comedy Defending Your Life (1991) led to his being cast in The Larry Sanders Show (1992), on which he played talk show producer "Artie." Torn won six consecutive Emmy nominations for the role, winning once for Best Supporting Actor in a comedy series in 1996.

Torn was married to actress Ann Wedgeworth from 1956-61, whom he divorced to marry Geraldine Page. They remained married until her death in 1987. He was married to Amy Wright until his death. Torn helped his first cousin, Oscar-winner Sissy Spacek, to make her way as an actress, seeing to it that she was accepted by the Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio and then the Lee Strasberg Institute.

Rip Torn died in on July 9, 2019 in Lakeville, Connecticut, aged 88.

British character actor Freddie Jones came to the acting profession after ten years of working as a laboratory assistant and acting in amateur theater on the side. To kick off his mid-life career change, Jones attended Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Kent, England, on a scholarship. He then worked in repertory theater, later joining up with the Royal Shakespeare Company and gaining recognition as an actor of exceptional cleverness, intelligence and perception.

His theatrical film debut came in 1967 in Peter Brook's critically acclaimed, Marat/Sade (1967). Two years later, Jones made his mark on the acting world playing "Claudius" in the six-part television miniseries, The Caesars (1968). Based on this performance, he was named "The World's Best Television Actor of the Year" at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival in 1969. Also, around this time, Jones gave one of his most touching film performances, that of the "monster" in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), in which he displayed pathos reminiscent of Boris Karloff's monster.

Critical acclaim led him into more prominent roles in television, e.g., The Ghosts of Motley Hall (1976), Children of the Stones (1977), and Pennies from Heaven (1978), as well as in film, e.g., The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970), Antony and Cleopatra (1972), All Creatures Great and Small (1975) and Zulu Dawn (1979). He achieved international recognition as a film actor after appearing in such Hollywood films as Clint Eastwood's Firefox (1982) and David Lynch's The Elephant Man (1980), Dune (1984) and Wild at Heart (1990).

Arguably one of his most endearing roles was the frequently drunk reporter "Orlando" in Federico Fellini's The Ship Sails On (1983). His theatrical acting also went well as he was well suited for literary dramas, e.g., Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), Nicholas Nickleby (1977), Silas Marner (1985), Adam Bede (1992), David Copperfield (2000) and The Count of Monte Cristo (2002).

Michael Sleggs was an actor, known for This Country (2017) and Kerry Mucklowe: The Human Poppy (2018). He died on 9 July 2019 in Gloucestershire, England, UK.

Rackstraw, a former Army helicopter pilot who had been awarded a Silver Star for valor, didn't surface as a suspect until the late 1970s, according to news reports. He'd been arrested on charges of murdering his stepfather, but was acquitted in a trial in 1978. The following year, he faced charges of aircraft theft, possession of explosives and check fraud, according to news reports. Rackstraw was convicted and spent more than a year in jail before being released in 1980. He was a high school dropout and U.S. Army paratrooper trained in explosives and psychological operations. He also worked as a pilot for hire in pre-revolution Iran.

He became subject for amateur sleuths investigating D.B. Cooper, the legendary skyjacker who jumped from a Northwest Orient Airlines jet somewhere over southwestern Washington in 1971 with $200,000 in cash and into history. Rackstraw, whose Army photo bore some resemblance to the notorious mastermind and had many of the skills required to pull off such a feat.

In 2011, Thomas J. Colbert, a Los Angeles-based television and film producer, organized a 40-member team to investigate Rackstraw and figure out whether he may have been D.B. Cooper. In July 2016, a History Channel documentary detailed Colbert's quest to figure out whether Rackstraw was the notorious hijacker.

Perot was born on June 27, 1930, in Texarkana, Texas, to an impoverished family. He was the son of Lula May (Ray), a secretary, and Gabriel Ross Perot, who worked in cotton contracts. He started working various odd jobs at age seven. In 1949, Perot was admitted to the United States Naval Academy (serving in several positions, including class president). Upon his graduation in 1953, he was commissioned as a Naval officer and served on a destroyer and aircraft during the Korean War for four years. In 1956, Perot married Margot Birmingham. In 1957, he was honorably discharged from the Navy and started to work for IBM as a salesman. In 1962, Perot started his own business, Electronic Data Systems, with money given to him by his wife. Today, the company is worth billions of dollars and has more than 70,000 employees. Perot has worked closely with the U.S. government over the past three decades, helping to conduct several rescue missions and prisoner negations with foreign nationals. In 1992, he split from the Republican Party to create the Reform Party. He lost the election then and again in 1996. The Reform Party eventually disbanded.

Perot remained a philanthropist and often donated to charity. He and his wife had five children and numerous grandchildren.

Tracy R. Twyman is a non-fiction writer, known for her books The Merovingian Mythos, Solomon's Treasure, and Money Grows on the Tree of Knowledge. She first came to public light in 1996 when she began publishing the underground esoteric history magazine Dagobert's Revenge, which she continued to publish until 2003. She is known for her appearances on the radio shows Coast to Coast AM and Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis. She was also in the documentary movie Bloodline, and has been in several TV documentaries.

Gil Espinoza was born on 24 November 1972 in East Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Powder Blue (2009), High School High (1996) and Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas (2006). He died on 9 July 2019 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Zaheen Tahira was born in 1949 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. She was an actress, known for Bin Roye (2015), Bin Roye (2016) and Jinnah (1998). She died on 9 July 2019 in Karachi, Pakistan.

Lilia Landi was born on 24 August 1929 in Rome, Lazio, Italy. She was an actress, known for The White Sheik (1952), I vagabondi delle stelle (1956) and Il Grido (1957). She died on 9 July 2019 in Viareggio, Tuscany, Italy.

William Dannemeyer was born on 22 September 1929 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was married to Lorraine Day and Evelyn May Hoemann. He died on 9 July 2019 in Thousand Palms, California, USA.

Johnny Kitagawa was born on 23 October 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a producer and executive, known for Ulin Monogatari - Jemin Y To S (1983), Hit the Goal (1994) and Haithîn bugi (1982). He died on 9 July 2019 in Tokyo, Japan.

Fernando de la Rúa was born on 15 September 1937 in Córdoba, Córdoba Province, Argentina. He was married to Inés Pertiné. He died on 9 July 2019 in Escobar, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Jana Kopecká was born on 16 May 1939 in Prague, Protektorát Cechy a Morava [now Czech Republic]. She was an actress, known for Kdyby tisíc klarinetu (1965), Bubny (1965) and Lady on the Tracks (1966). She died on 9 July 2019 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Herman Lejter was born on 26 July 1935 in Santa Teresa del Tuy, Miranda, Venezuela. He was a director and actor, known for Días de ceniza (1970), Tres destinos, tres amores (1985) and La sustituta (1989). He died on 9 July 2019 in Caracas, Venezuela.

Aaron Rosand was born on 15 March 1927 in Hammond, Indiana, USA. He is known for Orchestra of Exiles (2012), The Revlon Revue (1959) and Camera Three (1954). He was married to Christina Khimm-Rosand, Maree Macpherson, Monica Woo and Eileen Flissler. He died on 9 July 2019 in White Plains, New York, USA.

Mariano Otero was born on 11 August 1942 in Madrid, Spain. He was married to Marie-Alice Villeneuve. He died on 9 July 2019 in Rennes, France.

France Nadeau was born on 9 October 1933 in Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada. She was a writer, known for Femme d'aujourd'hui (1965) and Au jour le jour (1982). She was married to Pierre Nadeau. She died on 9 July 2019 in Québec, Canada.

Glenn Mickens was born on 26 July 1930 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Time Out for Lessons (1939). He was married to Ruth. He died on 9 July 2019 in Kapaa, Hawaii, USA.