People Born In 1914: Superman, The Lone Ranger, and Obiwan Ben Kenobi

When I did my first post on people born 100 years ago - 1908 - there weren't many lists like that available.  Nowadays, there's a lot more available. And mine got so elaborate that they took forever to write. So I'm going to leave it to others now to do the comprehensive lists and just focus on a few folks that were important to me and to the world.  To see one of the more comprehensive lists go to NNDB.

Here are two people whose roles were their public persona:  George Reeves (Superman) and Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger.)  And one more - Alec Guinness - whose acting career was much greater than the only role that many know him as - Obiwan Ben Kenobi. 

Alec Guinness April 2, 1914- August 5, 2000 (86) Guinness was a great actor.  I first remember him from The Horse's Mouth.  He went on to win an Academy Award as a Colonel in Bridge on The River Kwai.   He was a prince in Lawrence of Arabia and a general in Dr. Zhivago. A Business Insider article in 2013 quotes Guinness' biography: "I have been offered a movie (20th Cent. Fox) which I may accept, if they come up with proper money. London and N. Africa, starting in mid-March. Science fiction – which gives me pause – but is to be directed by Paul [sic] Lucas who did "American Graffiti, which makes me feel I should. Big part. Fairy-tale rubbish but could be interesting perhaps." Guinness goes on to recall Twentieth Century Fox offered him $150,000 plus two percent of the producer's profit in January 1976 for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi – double what they offered him the week before." More about this great actor of the 20th Century here  and here.

George Reeves January 5, 1914 - June 15, 1959 One of my first memories of irony was that the man of steel committed suicide.  Below is a video bio of Reeves.  The video suggests maybe he didn't commit suicide.

From a Clayton More website Jack Carlton Moore was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 14, 1914. He was the youngest of three boys who grew up in a loving family home. His father was a real estate developer. Before his rise to the silver screen, Moore first became an acrobat in a flying circus troupe when he was in his twenties. This troupe of talented daredevils was the first to work without the benefit of a net, and the first to work over water. After Moore left the troupe, he went on to do some modeling jobs in New York before he finally found his way to Hollywood in 1938. He had changed his name to Clayton Moore in the mean time, and he did some stuntman work and some extra parts for the movie industry. By 1941, Moore was working steady for Republic Pictures. He portrayed heroes, the guys in the white hats, as well as bad guys, who always wore the black hats, of course, in several western movies. But it was 1949 when Clayton Moore finally got the big break that would change his life forever. "The Lone Ranger Show" had been on the radio for fifteen years by now, and Republic Pictures had already produced a couple of low-cost Lone Ranger films. But the studio decided it was time to make a weekly series out of the famous "Lone Ranger." (From Weirdscifi - I originally got the picture above from there too, but it really is weird because the picture changed to something pretty weird and I had to find a new source.)

There are others of significance born in 1914 and I may do additional posts to cover some of them.  But for now, here are some highlights.

Jonas Salk Oct 28, 1914 - June 23, 1995 (80) - Probably the man born in 1914 who had the most positive impact on the world was Jonas Salk, the man who invented the polio vaccine.

Kenneth Bancroft Clark  - July 24, 1914 - May 1, 2004 (89) The first black fully tenured professor at City University of New York and first black president of the American Psychological Society, his study of the effects of discrimination in the US played a key role in the landmark Supreme Court Decision Brown v. Board of Education.  Also worked with Gunnar Myrdal on his classic study of race in the US. 

Sports:
Joe DiMaggio   November 25, 1014 - March 8, 1999 (84)
Joe Louis  May 13, 1914 - April 12, 1981 (66)
Tenzing Norgay  May 15, 1914 - May 9, 1986 (71)

Writers:
William Bourroughs  Feb 5, 1914 - August 2, 1997 (83)
Ralph Ellison   March 1, 1914 - April 16, 1994 (80)
John Hersey June 17, 1914 - March 24, 1993  (78)
Bernard Malahmud  April 26, 1914 - March 18, 1986 (71)
Octavio Paz  March 31, 1914 - April 19, 1998 (84)
Dylan Thomas October 27, 1914 - Nov 9, 1953 (41)

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15377#sthash.H0fnXwbZ.dpuf 

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15377#sthash.H0fnXwbZ.dpuf

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15377#sthash.H0fnXwbZ.dpuf

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15377#sthash.H0fnXwbZ.dpuf

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15377#sthash.H0fnXwbZ.dpuf

Alaskan Related:
Hale Boggs  Feb 15, 1914 - Oct 16, 1972  - Louisiana Congressman, and father of Cokie Roberts, died in plane crash with Alaskan Congressman Nick Begich. 
William A. Egan  Oct 8, 1914 - May 6 1984  - Two time Alaska governor.


War and Space:
 James Van Allen  Sept 7, 1914 - August 9 2006 (91)
William Westmoreland March 26, 1914 - July 18, 2005 (91)