Bobby Wanzer

Robert Francis "Bobby" Wanzer, also known as "Hooks" Wanzer (June 4, 1921 – January 23, 2016) was an American basketball player and coach.

A 6'0" guard, Wanzer played collegiately at Seton Hall University. After leading Seton Hall to a 16-2 record as a sophomore, Wanzer enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He made the All-Pacific Armed Forces all-star basketball team, and he participated in the occupation of Guam.

Wanzer was selected by the Rochester Royals in 1947. Royals star Bob Davies was a Seton Hall coach and steered the star guard to the NBL contender. Initially a reserve behind Al Cervi and Red Holzman, Wanzer later teamed with Davies to form a potent backcourt for the day. The Royals were very successful 1947-1954, and their smaller stars, like Wanzer, were considered their biggest assets. With Wanzer, Rochester won the 1950-51 National Basketball Association (NBA) title.

Wanzer played his entire career with the Royals, retiring from play after the end of the 1957 season. He was a five-time All-Star with the Royals, made the All-NBA 2nd Team three consecutive times, and in the 1951-52 season, Wanzer became the first player to ever shoot over 90% from the free throw line in a season. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987.

John Fisher

John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535), venerated by Roman Catholics as Saint John Fisher, was an English Catholic bishop and theologian. He was a man of learning, associated with the intellectuals and political leaders of his day, and eventually became Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.

Fisher was executed by order of Henry VIII during the English Reformation for refusing to accept the king as Supreme Head of the Church of England and for upholding the Catholic Church's doctrine of papal primacy. He was named a cardinal shortly before his death. He is honoured as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Church. He shares his feast day with St Thomas More on 22 June in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints and on 6 July in that of the Church of England.

Early life

John Fisher was born in Beverley, Yorkshire, in 1469, the eldest son of Robert Fisher, a modestly prosperous merchant of Beverley, and Agnes, his wife. He was one of four children. His father died when John was eight. His mother remarried and had five more children by her second husband, William White. Fisher seems to have had close contacts with his extended family all his life. Fisher's early education was probably received in the school attached to the collegiate church in his home town. He attended Beverley Grammar School, an old foundation claiming to date from the year 700. In the present day, one of the houses at the school is named in Fisher's honour.

Marvin Minsky

Marvin Lee Minsky (August 9, 1927 – January 24, 2016) was an American cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), co-founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, and author of several texts on AI and philosophy.

Biography

Marvin Lee Minsky was born in New York City to an eye surgeon father, Henry, and to a Jewish mother, Fannie, who was an activist in Zionist affairs, where he attended The Fieldston School and the Bronx High School of Science. He later attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He then served in the US Navy from 1944 to 1945. He held a BA in mathematics from Harvard (1950) and a PhD in mathematics from Princeton (1954). He was on the MIT faculty from 1958 to his death. In 1959 he and John McCarthy founded what is now known as the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. At the time of his death, he was the Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, and professor of electrical engineering and computer science.

Abe Vigoda

Abraham Charles "Abe" Vigoda (/vᵻˈɡoʊdə/; February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2016), was an American actor. He was known for a number of roles, especially his portrayals of Salvatore Tessio in the Francis Ford Coppola film The Godfather and Detective Sgt. Phil Fish on the ABC sitcom Barney Miller from 1975 to 1977 and its spinoff show Fish from 1977 to 1978.

Early life

Vigoda was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Lena (née Moses) and Samuel Vigoda, Jewish immigrants from Russia. His father was a tailor who had two other sons: Hy and Bill. The latter was a comic book artist who drew for the Archie comics franchise and others in the 1940s.

Career

Vigoda began acting while in his teens, working with the American Theatre Wing. His career as a professional actor began in 1947.

Vigoda gained acting notability in the 1960s with his work in Broadway productions, including Marat/Sade (1967) playing "Mad Animal", The Man in the Glass Booth (1968) playing "Landau", Inquest (1970), and Tough to Get Help (1972). His best-known film role is that of elder mobster Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather (1972). He also appeared briefly in The Godfather Part II in a flashback sequence at the end of the film.