American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA) is an American entertainment union representing performers in variety entertainment, including circuses, Las Vegas showrooms and cabarets, comedy showcases, dance revues, magic shows, theme park shows, and arena and auditorium extravaganzas. It awards the "Georgie Award" (after George Jessel) for variety performer of the year. There is some overlap between the jurisdictions of AGVA and Actors' Equity.

AGVA was the successor to the American Federation of Actors organized by Sophie Tucker and others in the late 1930s, and affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. In 1939 the AFL dissolved the AFA due to financial irregularities, and issued a new charter to AGVA (although some members went to Equity instead).^[1]

When actress Penny Singleton (who had been active in supporting the 1967 strike of the AGVA-represented Rockettes against Radio City Music Hall^[2]), was elected president of AGVA in 1969, she became the first woman to be president of an AFL-CIO union.^[3] The current Executive President is poet, songwriter, composer, and singer Rod McKuen, who has held the post for the past 19 years.

Its office is in New York City.

References[link]

1. ^ "Sophie Spanked", TIME July 24, 1939
2. ^ "Accord is reached in Rockettes strike"; New York Times, Oct. 13, 1967
3. ^ Singleton biography

Resources[link]

• ağva ağva
• American Guild of Variety Artists official website
• AFL-CIO member listing

This article related to a United States labor union is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Rich Little
Rich Little performing as George Burns in 2004
Born	(1938-11-26) November 26, 1938 (age 73) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Medium	Stand-up comedy, television
Nationality	Canadian, American
Years active	1963—present
Genres	Observational comedy
Subject(s)	Impersonations, popular culture
Spouse	Marie Marotta (2003–2010) Jeannette Markey (1994–1997) Jeanne Worden (1971–1989), 1 daughter
Website	richlittle.com

Richard Caruthers "Rich" Little (born November 26, 1938) is a Canadian-American impressionist and voice actor. He has long been known throughout the world as a top impersonator of famous people, resulting in his nickname, "The Man of a Thousand Voices", not to be confused with the legendary voice actor: Mel Blanc.

Early life[link]

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Little was the middle of three sons. His father was a doctor. In his early teens, he formed a partnership with Geoff Scott, another budding impressionist, concentrating on reproducing the voices of Canadian politicians such as then-Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and Ottawa mayor Charlotte Whitton (Geoff went on to become a politician). They were performing professionally in night clubs by age 17.

Career[link]

Rich was an usher at the Elgin Movie Theatre in Ottawa where he would perfect his voices when standing at the back of the theatre. He started his amateur acting career at Ottawa's Little Theatre winning his first acting award at the Eastern Ontario Drama Festival in Deep River, Ontario. He went on to become a successful disc jockey, frequently incorporating impersonations into his show. In 1963, he was asked to audition by Mel Tormé, who was producing a new variety show for Judy Garland. The audition won him the job and in 1964, Little made his American television debut on CBS's The Judy Garland Show, where he astounded Garland with his imitations of various male celebrities. His impression of James Mason in A Star Is Born thrilled Garland, and his popularity began to grow.

In 1966 and 1967, Little appeared in ABC-TV's Judy Carne sitcom Love on a Rooftop as the Willises' eccentric neighbor, Stan Parker. He appeared on That Girl in 1967 as a writer who impressed Marlo Thomas' character with his impersonations. Little was a frequent guest on variety and talk shows. He cracked up Johnny Carson by capturing the Tonight Show host's voice and many on-stage mannerisms perfectly (he later played Carson in the HBO TV-movie The Late Shift). One of his best known impressions is of U.S. President Richard Nixon. (In 1991 he reprised the role of Nixon as ideal sperm donor in Gina's fantasies on the soap opera Santa Barbara.) During the 1970s, Little made many television appearances portraying Nixon. He was a regular guest on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts in the 1970s and was also a semi-regular on the Emmy-winning ABC-TV variety series The Julie Andrews Hour in 1972-1973. This particular series proved to be a wonderful showcase for Little's talents as an impressionist. In fact, because of his uncanny yet brilliant imitation of Jack Benny, the comedian sent Little an 18-carat gold money clip containing this message: "With Bob Hope doing my walk and you doing my voice, I can be a star and do nothing." He was named "Comedy Star of the Year" by the American Guild of Variety Artists in 1974.

His best-known continuing TV series was The Kopycats, hour-long segments of The ABC Comedy Hour, first broadcast in 1972. Taped in England, these comedy-variety shows consisted entirely of celebrity impersonations, with the actors in full costume and makeup for every sketch. The cast included Rich Little, Frank Gorshin, Marilyn Michaels, George Kirby, British comedian Joe Baker, Fred Travalena, Charlie Callas, and Peter Goodwright.

The Rich Little Show (1976) and The New You Asked for It (1981) were attempts to present Little in his own person, away from his gallery of characterizations.

In 1981 Little appeared in a comedy LP called The First Family Rides Again, which was the fourth and final 'First Family' comedy LPs originally created by Bob Booker and Earle Doud. Little starred along with Melanie Chartoff, Micheal Richards, Shelly Black, Jenilee Harrison, Earle Doud, and Vaughn Meader, making light of the Pres. Reagan years in the White House.

Little has starred in various HBO specials including the 1978 one-man show, Rich Little's Christmas Carol. He has also appeared in several movies and released nine albums. When David Niven proved too ill for his voice to be used in his appearances in Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) and Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), Little provided the overdub. (Ironically, Little provided the voice for the Pink Panther cartoon character in two experimental 1965 cartoons called Sink Pink and Pink Ice.) He rendered similar assistance for the 1991 TV special Christmas at the Movies by providing an uncredited dub for the aging actor/dancer Gene Kelly. As a native Canadian, he also lent his voice to the narration of two specials which were the forerunners for the animated series The Raccoons: The Christmas Raccoons and The Raccoons on Ice.^[1]

Little was the host for the 2007 White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Although President George W. Bush was reported to have enjoyed Little's performance, it was panned by some reviewers for "his ancient jokes and impressions of dead people (Johnny Carson, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan)."^[2][3][4]

Little voices as a guest star in Futurama such as Futurama: Bender's Game, playing his own celebrity head: "Rich Little here, as Howard Cosell." Many times he plays a sports commentator.

Other interests[link]

Little has been active in several charities including the Juvenile Diabetes Fund and the Children's Miracle Network. He has been named to Miami Children's Hospital International Pediatrics Hall of Fame and been honored by the naming of the Rich Little Special Care Nursery at Ottawa Civic Hospital.

Personal life[link]

Little was married to Jeanne Worden from 1971 until their divorce in 1989. The couple have a daughter, Bria. He married Jeannette Markey in 1994; they divorced in 1997. He was married to Marie Marotta from 2003 until her death in 2010. (She died of a deliberate overdose of sleeping pills on July 15, 2010 after suffering from chronic pain.^[5])

Little resides in Las Vegas, where he often performs. He was sworn in as an American citizen in a Las Vegas courtroom on January 10, 2008.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rich Little

• Official website
• Rich Little at the Internet Movie Database

Jacob Leon Rubenstein (March 25, 1911^[1] – January 3, 1967), who legally changed his name to Jack Leon Ruby in 1947, was convicted of the November 24, 1963 murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Ruby, who was originally from Chicago, Illinois, was then a nightclub operator in Dallas, Texas. Convicted of the murder on March 14, 1964, Ruby appealed the conviction and death sentence. As a date for his new trial was being set,^[2] he became ill and died of lung cancer on January 3, 1967.

Ruby was involved with major figures in organized crime; conspiracy theorists claim that he killed Oswald as part of an overall plot surrounding the assassination of Kennedy. Others have disputed this, arguing that his connection with gangsters was minimal at most and that he was not the sort to be entrusted with such an act within a high-level conspiracy.^[3]

Alleged links to organized crime[link]

Ruby was known to have been acquainted with both the police and the Mafia, specifically the Italian Mafia. The House Select Committee on Assassinations said that Ruby had known restaurateurs Sam (1920–1970) and Joseph Campisi (1918–1990) since 1947, and had been seen with them on many occasions.^[4] After an investigation of Joe Campisi, the HSCA found:

While Campisi's technical characterization in federal law enforcement records as an organized crime member has ranged from definite to suspected to negative, it is clear that he was an associate or friend of many Dallas-based organized crime members, particularly Joseph Civello, during the time he was the head of the Dallas organization. There was no indication that Campisi had engaged in any specific organized crime-related activities.

—^[5]

Similarly, a PBS Frontline investigation into the connections between Ruby and Dallas organized crime figures reported the following:

In 1963, Sam and Joe Campisi were leading figures in the Dallas underworld. Jack knew the Campisis and had been seen with them on many occasions. The Campisis were lieutenants of Carlos Marcello, the Mafia boss who had reportedly talked of killing the President.

—^[6]

A day before Kennedy was assassinated, Ruby went to Joe Campisi's restaurant.^[7] At the time of the Kennedy assassination, Ruby was close enough to the Campisis to ask them to come see him after he was arrested for shooting Lee Oswald.^[8]

In his memoir Bound by Honor: A Mafioso's Story, Bill Bonanno, son of New York Mafia boss Joseph Bonanno, explains that several Mafia families had longstanding ties with the anti-Castro Cubans through the Havana casinos operated by the Mafia before the Cuban Revolution. Many Cuban exiles and Mafia bosses disliked Kennedy, blaming him for the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion.^[9] They also disliked his brother, the young and idealistic Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who had conducted an unprecedented legal assault on organized crime.^[10]

The Mafia were experts in assassination, and Bonanno reported that he recognized the high degree of involvement of other Mafia families when Ruby killed Oswald, since Bonanno was aware that Ruby was an associate of Chicago mobster Sam Giancana.^[11]

Howard P. Willens, third highest official in the Department of Justice^[12] and assistant counsel to J. Lee Rankin designed the organizational structure of the Warren Commission, outlined its investigative priorities,^[13] and terminated the investigation of Ruby's Cuban related activities.^[14] An FBI report states that Willens's father was Tony Accardo's next door neighbor since 1958.^[15]

Four years prior to the assassination of President Kennedy, Ruby went to see a man named Lewis McWillie in Cuba. Ruby considered McWillie, who had previously run illegal gambling establishments in Texas, to be one of his closest friends.^[16] At the time Ruby visited him, in August 1959, McWillie was supervising gambling activities at Havana's Tropicana Club. Ruby told the Warren Commission that his August trip to Cuba was merely a social visit at the invitation of McWillie.^[16] The House Select Committee on Assassinations would later conclude that Ruby "…most likely was serving as a courier for gambling interests."^[17][18] The committee also found "circumstantial," but not conclusive, evidence that "…Ruby met with [Mafia boss] Santo Trafficante in Cuba sometime in 1959."^[19]

About an hour after President Kennedy was shot, White House correspondent Seth Kantor (who was a passenger in the motorcade) arrived at Parkland Hospital where Kennedy was receiving medical care. As Kantor was entering the hospital through a stairway, he felt a tug on his coat. He turned around to see Ruby who called him by his first name and shook his hand.^[20][21] (Kantor had become acquainted with Ruby when Kantor was a reporter for the Dallas Times Herald newspaper.)^[22][23] Ruby asked Kantor if he thought that it would be a good idea for him to close his nightclubs for the next three nights because of the tragedy and Kantor responded that he thought that doing so would be a good idea.^[21][24] It has been suggested that Ruby might have been involved in tampering with evidence while at the hospital.^[25] Ruby would later deny he had been at Parkland Hospital and the Warren Commission decided to believe Ruby rather than Kantor.^[26][27] (In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations reversed the Warren Commission's judgement, stating: "While the Warren Commission concluded that Kantor was mistaken [about his Parkland meeting with Ruby], the Committee determined he probably was not.")^[28]

Goaded by the Warren Commission's dismissal of his testimony, Seth Kantor researched the Ruby case for years. In a later published book Who Was Jack Ruby?, Kantor wrote:

The mob was Ruby's "friend." And Ruby could well have been paying off an IOU the day he was used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald. Remember: "I have been used for a purpose," the way Ruby expressed it to Chief Justice Warren in their June 7, 1964 session. It would not have been hard for the mob to maneuver Ruby through the ranks of a few negotiable police [to kill Oswald].

—^[29]

Witness Wilma Tice also said that she saw Jack Ruby at Parkland Hospital during the time Kennedy was being treated there.^[30] Called to testify before the Warren Commission, Tice said that she received an anonymous phone call from a man telling her "…that it would pay me to keep my mouth shut."^[31]

Within hours of Ruby's arrest for shooting Oswald, a telegram was received at the Dallas city jail in support of Ruby, under the names of Hal and Pauline Collins.^[32] In one of the Warren Commissions exhibits, Hal Collins is listed as a character reference by Ruby on a Texas liquor license application.^[33] Hal Collin's sister was married to Robert Clark, the brother of then-sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Tom C. Clark. Tom C. Clark advised newspaper columnist Drew Pearson that financier Henry Crown and the Hilton Hotel chain had financial interests in syndicated racketeering activities in Chicago.^{[34][35][35][36][37]} Tom C. Clark also recommended that the Warren Commission appoint Henry Crown's attorney, Albert E. Jenner, Jr., to serve as assistant counsel to the commission.^[38]

Criticism[link]

Some writers, including former Los Angeles District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi, dismiss Ruby's connections to organized crime as being minimal at best:

It is very noteworthy that without exception, not one of these conspiracy theorists knew or had ever met Jack Ruby. Without our even resorting to his family and roommate, all of whom think the suggestion of Ruby being connected to the mob is ridiculous, those who knew him, unanimously and without exception, think the notion of his being connected to the Mafia, and then killing Oswald for them, is nothing short of laughable.

—^[39]

Bill Alexander, who prosecuted Ruby for Oswald's murder, equally rejected any suggestions that Ruby was part-and-parcel of organized crime, claiming that conspiracy theorists based it on the claim that "A knew B, and Ruby knew B back in 1950, so he must have known A, and that must be the link to the conspiracy."^[3]

Ruby's brother Earl denied allegations that Jack was involved in racketeering Chicago nightclubs, and author Gerald Posner suggests that Ruby may have been confused^{[by whom?]} with Harry Rubenstein, a convicted Chicago felon.^[3] Entertainment reporter Tony Zoppi is also dismissive of mob ties. He knew Ruby and described him as a "born loser."^[3]

Murder of Oswald[link]

Ruby (also known as "Sparky," from his boxing nickname "Sparkling Ruby"^[40]) was seen in the halls of the Dallas Police Headquarters on several occasions after the arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963; and newsreel footage from WFAA-TV (Dallas) and NBC shows Ruby impersonating a newspaper reporter during a press conference at Dallas Police Headquarters on the night of the assassination.^[41] District Attorney Henry Wade briefed reporters at the press conference telling them that Lee Oswald was a member of the anti-Castro Free Cuba Committee. Ruby was one of many people there who spoke up to correct Wade, saying: "Henry, that's the Fair Play for Cuba Committee," a pro-Castro organization.^[42] Some speculate that Ruby may have hoped to kill Oswald that night at the police station press conference.^[43] Ruby told the FBI, a month after his arrest for killing Oswald, that he had his loaded snub-nosed Colt Cobra .38 revolver in his right-hand pocket during the press conference.^[44][45]

Two days later on Sunday, November 24, after driving into town and sending a money order to one of his employees, Ruby walked to the nearby police headquarters and made his way to the basement. At 11:21 am CST — while authorities were preparing to transfer Oswald by armored car from the police basement to the nearby county jail — Ruby stepped out from a crowd of reporters and fired his .38 revolver into Oswald's abdomen, fatally wounding him. The shooting was broadcast live nationally, and millions of television viewers witnessed it. There is some evidence that Ruby's actions were on a whim, as he left his favorite dog, Sheba, in the car before shooting Oswald.^[46]

However, the House Select Committee on Assassinations in its 1979 Final Report opined:

…Ruby's shooting of Oswald was not a spontaneous act, in that it involved at least some premeditation. Similarly, the committee believed it was less likely that Ruby entered the police basement without assistance, even though the assistance may have been provided with no knowledge of Ruby's intentions… The committee was troubled by the apparently unlocked doors along the stairway route and the removal of security guards from the area of the garage nearest the stairway shortly before the shooting… There is also evidence that the Dallas Police Department withheld relevant information from the Warren Commission concerning Ruby's entry to the scene of the Oswald transfer.

—^[47]

When Ruby was arrested immediately after the shooting, he told several witnesses that he helped the city of Dallas "redeem" itself in the eyes of the public, and that Oswald's death would spare "…Mrs. Kennedy the discomfiture of coming back to trial."^[48] At the time of the shooting Ruby said he was taking phenmetrazine, a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant.^[46]

Ruby's explanation for killing Oswald would be "exposed … as a fabricated legal ploy", according to the House Select Committee on Assassinations. In a private note to one of his attorneys, Joseph Tonahill, Ruby wrote: "Joe, you should know this. [My first lawyer] Tom Howard told me to say that I shot Oswald so that Caroline and Mrs. Kennedy wouldn't have to come to Dallas to testify. OK?"^[28][49] Ruby's ploy was confirmed by attorney Melvin Belli. In his book, Dallas Justice, Belli wrote that Ruby told him: "We know I did it for Jackie and the kids… Maybe I ought to forget this silly story that I'm telling, and get on the stand and tell the truth."^[50]

Another motive was put forth by Frank Sheeran, allegedly a hitman for the Mafia, in a conversation he had with the then-former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa. During the conversation, Hoffa claimed that Ruby was assigned the task of coordinating police officers who were loyal to Ruby to murder Oswald while he was in their custody. As Ruby evidently mismanaged the operation, he was given a choice to either finish the job himself or forfeit his life.^[51]

Prosecution and conviction[link]

After Ruby's arrest, he asked Dallas attorney Tom Howard to represent him. Howard accepted and asked Ruby if he could think of anything that might damage his defense. Ruby responded that there would be a problem if a man by the name of "Davis" should come up. Ruby told his attorney that he "…had been involved with Davis, who was a gunrunner entangled in anti-Castro efforts."^[52][53] Davis was identified only years later, after research by journalist Seth Kantor, as being Thomas Eli Davis III, a CIA-connected "soldier of fortune."^[54][55]

Later, Ruby replaced attorney Tom Howard with prominent San Francisco defense attorney Melvin Belli who agreed to represent Ruby pro bono. Some observers thought that the case could have been disposed of as a "murder without malice" charge (roughly equivalent to manslaughter), with a maximum prison sentence of five years. Belli attempted to prove, however, that Ruby was legally insane and had a history of mental illness in his family (the latter being true, as his mother had been committed to a mental hospital years before). On March 14, 1964, Ruby was convicted of murder with malice, for which he received a death sentence.

During the six months following the Kennedy assassination, Ruby repeatedly asked, orally and in writing, to speak to the members of the Warren Commission. The commission initially showed no interest. Only after Ruby's sister Eileen wrote letters to the commission (and her letters became public) did the Warren Commission agree to talk to Ruby. In June 1964, Chief Justice Earl Warren, then-Representative Gerald R. Ford of Michigan, and other commission members went to Dallas to see Ruby. Ruby asked Warren several times to take him to Washington D.C., saying "my life is in danger here" and that he wanted an opportunity to make additional statements.^[56] He added: "I want to tell the truth, and I can't tell it here."^[57] Warren told Ruby that he would be unable to comply, because many legal barriers would need to be broken and public interest in the situation would be too heavy. Warren also told Ruby that the commission would have no way of protecting him, since it had no police powers. Ruby said he wanted to convince President Lyndon Johnson that he was not part of any conspiracy to kill Kennedy.^[58]

Alleged conspiracies[link]

Following Ruby's March 1964 conviction for murder with malice, Ruby's lawyers, led by Sam Houston Clinton, appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal court in Texas. Ruby's lawyers argued that he could not have received a fair trial in the city of Dallas because of the excessive publicity surrounding the case. A year after his conviction, in March 1965, Ruby conducted a brief televised news conference in which he stated: "Everything pertaining to what's happening has never come to the surface. The world will never know the true facts of what occurred, my motives. The people who had so much to gain, and had such an ulterior motive for putting me in the position I'm in, will never let the true facts come above board to the world." When asked by a reporter, "Are these people in very high positions Jack?", he responded "Yes."^[59]

Dallas Deputy Sheriff Al Maddox claimed: "Ruby told me, he said, 'Well, they injected me for a cold.' He said it was cancer cells. That's what he told me, Ruby did. I said you don't believe that bullshit. He said, 'I damn sure do!' [Then] one day when I started to leave, Ruby shook hands with me and I could feel a piece of paper in his palm… [In this note] he said it was a conspiracy and he said … if you will keep your eyes open and your mouth shut, you're gonna learn a lot. And that was the last letter I ever got from him."^[60][61]

Not long before Ruby died, according to an article in the London Sunday Times, he told psychiatrist Werner Teuter that the assassination was "an act of overthrowing the government" and that he knew "who had President Kennedy killed." He added: "I am doomed. I do not want to die. But I am not insane. I was framed to kill Oswald."^[60][62]

Eventually, the appellate court agreed with Ruby's lawyers for a new trial, and on October 5, 1966, ruled that his motion for a change of venue before the original trial court should have been granted. Ruby's conviction and death sentence were overturned. Arrangements were underway for a new trial to be held in February 1967 in Wichita Falls, Texas, when on December 9, 1966, Ruby was admitted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, suffering from pneumonia. A day later, doctors realized he had cancer in his liver, lungs, and brain. Three weeks later, he died.

According to an unnamed Associated Press source, Ruby made a final statement from his hospital bed on December 19 that he alone had been responsible for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.^[63] "There is nothing to hide… There was no one else," Ruby said.^[64]

Criticisms[link]

In Gerald Posner's book Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK, Ruby's friends, relatives and associates stress how upset he was upon hearing of Kennedy's murder, even crying on occasion, and how he went so far as to close his loss-making clubs for three days as a mark of respect.^[3]

Dallas reporter Tony Zoppi, who knew Ruby well, claims that one "would have to be crazy" to entrust Ruby with anything as important as a high-level plot to kill Kennedy since he "couldn't keep a secret for five minutes… Jack was one of the most talkative guys you would ever meet. He'd be the worst fellow in the world to be part of a conspiracy, because he just plain talked too much."^[65] He and others describe Ruby as the sort who enjoyed being at "the center of attention", trying to make friends with people and being more of a nuisance.^[3]

Death[link]

Ruby died of a pulmonary embolism, secondary to bronchogenic carcinoma (lung cancer), on January 3, 1967 at Parkland Hospital, where Oswald had died and where President Kennedy had been pronounced dead after his assassination. He was buried beside his parents in the Westlawn Cemetery in Norridge, Illinois.^[66][67][68] Considering the relatively short time period between the time of the assassination and his death, there was suspicion that Ruby knew of his terminal cancer at the time of the assassination, which may have contributed to his motives. When asked by the House Select Committee on Assassinations if Ruby could have known about his cancer, Dallas County medical examiner Dr. Earl Rose, who performed the autopsy on Ruby, replied, "No".^{[citation needed]}

Popular culture[link]

Ruby's shooting of Oswald, and his behavior both before and after the Kennedy assassination, have been the topic of numerous films, TV programs, books, and songs.

Film[link]

• In Oliver Stone's 1991 film JFK, Ruby was portrayed by veteran actor Brian Doyle-Murray. Stone's perspective on events draws heavily from conspiracy theory researchers such as Jim Marrs and L. Fletcher Prouty. At least three scenes further detailing Ruby were removed from the film and are only available on DVD. One scene expanded the Oswald shooting by showing corrupt police letting Ruby enter through a restricted entrance.
• The 1992 feature film Ruby speculated on Ruby's more complex motivations. Among the impulses explored by the film that might have propelled Ruby into shooting Oswald were Ruby's reputation among family and friends as an assiduous, emotionally volatile publicity-seeker, and the influence of his long-time organized crime and Dallas police connections. Ruby was played by Danny Aiello.

Literature[link]

• Ruby is one of the main characters of James Ellroy's novel, The Cold Six Thousand. The plot revolves around the aftermath of the assassination of John Kennedy, and the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. It speculates about the links of many historical characters with Mafia and anti-Castroist groups with the assassinations.
• In his 1989 novel Libra, Don DeLillo portrays Ruby as being part of a larger conspiracy surrounding the president's assassination, imagining that an FBI agent persuades Ruby to kill Oswald.

Music[link]

• "Bicentennial" is a song from the 1976 album, T Shirt, by Loudon Wainwright III. The verse referring to Ruby is: "You know we have our heroes. I mean Washington and Lincoln, including Audie Murphy, including old Jack Ruby. Wasn't Jack wonderful? Oh, you know he certainly was. "
• "Jack Ruby" is a song from the 1989 album, Key Lime Pie by Camper Van Beethoven. In the song, Ruby is described as, "…the kind of man who beats his horses or the dancers who work at a bar."
• "Jack Ruby" is a song by British rock group Deep Purple from their 1998 album Abandon.

Television[link]

• The 1978 made-for-television movie, Ruby and Oswald generally followed the official record, as presented by the Warren Commission. Ruby's actions and dialogue (as well as those of the people he comes in contact with) are nearly verbatim re-enactments of testimony given to the Warren Commission by those involved, as per the opening narration. Ruby was played by Michael Lerner.
• In the television show Mad Men, the footage of Ruby shooting Oswald was shown in the third-season episode, "The Grown-Ups," that dealt with Kennedy's assassination.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Report of the Warren Commission on the assassination of President Kennedy. St. Martin's Griffin. 1992. ISBN 978-0-312-08257-4. 
• Bugliosi, Vincent (2007). Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-04525-3. 
• Fonzi, Gaeton (1993). The Last Investigation. Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 978-1-56025-052-4. 
• Kantor, Seth (1978). Who Was Jack Ruby?. Everest House. ISBN 0-89696-004-8. 
• Manchester, William (1996). The Death of a President: November November 20–25. BBS Publishing Corporation. ISBN 978-0-88365-956-4. 
• McKnight, Gerald D. (2005). Breach of Trust: How the Warren Commission Failed the Nation and Why. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1390-8. 
• Newman, John (1995). Oswald and the CIA. Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7867-0131-5. 
• Rappleye, Charles; Ed Becker (1991). All American Mafioso. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-26676-5. 
• Summers, Anthony (1998). Not in Your Lifetime: The Definitive Book on the JFK Assassination. Marlowe & Company. ISBN 978-1-56924-739-6. 
• Almog, Oz, Kosher Nostra Jüdische Gangster in Amerika, 1890–1980 ; Jüdischen Museum der Stadt Wien ; 2003, Text Oz Almog, Erich Metz, ISBN 3-901398-33-3

External links[link]

• The Warren Commission Report, Appendix XVI: A Biography of Jack Ruby
• Jack Ruby --Mobster, Intelligence Agent, or Small-time Hustler?
• An article on Ruby's family background and childhood
• Testimony of Earl Ruby
• "Richard Nixon's Greatest Cover-Up" by Don Fulsom, Crime Magazine "Giancana's half-bother Chuck and nephew Sam claimed in their 1992 book Double Cross that the Mafia don had a long, warm, and mutually rewarding relationship with Nixon that dated back to the 1940s. '…He even helped my guy in Texas, (Jack) Ruby, get out of testifying in front of Congress back in forty-seven … By sayin' Ruby worked for him.'"
• In Defense of Jack Ruby
• Jack Ruby: Dallas' Original J.R.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009)

Totie Fields (May 7, 1930 – August 2, 1978)^[1] was an American comedienne.

Life and career[link]

Fields was born Sophie Feldman in Hartford, Connecticut. She started singing in Boston clubs while still in high school, taking the stage name of Totie Fields. The name "Totie" was a childhood nickname, a corruption of her first name.^{[citation needed]}

Rise to fame[link]

Fields gained fame during the 1960s and 1970s. Ed Sullivan gave Fields her first big break when he booked her on his show after seeing her perform at the Copacabana in New York. She made multiple appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mike Douglas Show, and The Merv Griffin Show, as well as a fifth season episode of Here's Lucy starring Lucille Ball.

In 1972, Fields wrote a humorous diet book entitled I Think I'll Start on Monday: The Official 8½ Oz. Mashed Potato Diet (i.e., 8.5 ounces (240 g)).^[2]

Health problems[link]

Fields was plagued with health problems the last two years of her life.

In April 1976, her left leg was amputated above the knee when surgery to remove a blood clot failed. This caused her to use an Amigo POV/Scooter for mobility.

In June 1977 Fields starred in the Home Box Office special series Standing Room Only, beginning her show seated in a wheelchair.^[3] As the audience welcomed her, she stood up, causing the cheering audience to stand with her. Said Fields: "I've waited all my life to say this... I weigh less than Elizabeth Taylor!"

While still recovering from the amputation, Fields suffered^[when?] two heart attacks.^[4]

In October 1977, Fields was diagnosed with breast cancer and her right breast was removed. Nevertheless, Fields continued to perform, incorporating her health problems into her act.^[4][5]

In 1978, during the last year of her life, Fields was voted "Entertainer of the Year" and "Female Comedy Star of the Year" by the American Guild of Variety Artists.^{[citation needed]}

Death[link]

On August 2, 1978, Fields was scheduled to begin a two-week engagement at Las Vegas’ Sahara Hotel when, on the eve of the opening, she was stricken at home by a blood clot, suffering a fatal pulmonary embolism. She was rushed to nearby Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center, but was pronounced dead soon after. Her ashes were interred in Las Vegas; however, after her husband George Johnston's death in January 1995, Totie was moved to the Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, to be interred together.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Totie Fields at the Internet Movie Database
• Lessons in Laughter - Totie Fields in Comedy College
• Totie Fields at Find a Grave