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Famous Iowans

Jack Jenny

Publicists once bragged that Jack Jenney had once been offered a job by famed conductor Arturo Toscanini. In 1941, Down Beat magazine named Jenney to the “All-American Swing Band.” On April 19, 2007, the Iowa Senate approved a resolution making the trombone Iowa's “premier instrument.” Singled out were Glenn Miller and Jack Jenney. The city of Dubuque has honored Jenney's name with a Jack Jenney Music Festival, most notably from 2001 to 2004. A good selection of Jenney's music is available on the HEP compact disc titled “Stardust” (1996), with liner notes by Campbell Burnap describing Jenney as “a well-trained musician with a superb technique, incomparable tone, film star looks and a romantic musical imagination.” REGISTER FILE PHOTOS

The career of talented jazz trombonist Jack Jenney was cut short by his premature death. His music lives on in numerous recordings. More


Hallie Flanagan SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

Flanagan, Hallie

Hallie Flanagan, a 5-foot whirlwind, was passionate about theater. During the Depression, she played a vital role in the biggest theater venture America ever attempted. More


The Williams Brothers, from left, Bob, 21; Dick, 14; Andy, 12; and Don, 17; are pictured in 1940 when they were moving from Des Moines to work in Chicago. Don Williams says today that the boys performed at WHO radio in Des Moines when Ronald “Dutch” Reagan was a sports announcer for the station. REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Williams Brothers

Before Andy Williams sang solo, he performed with his three older brothers. The Williams Brothers quartet delighted audiences wherever it went. More


This photograph of Abner Peeler was taken by Leisering’s Photography Studio in Fort Dodge when Peeler was about 37. The original photo is tucked in the lower-left corner. Peeler had that photo enlarged and then he airbrushed it himself in 1878, thus producing the world’s first airbrushed photograph. More about Peeler can be found at www.abnerpeeler.com, a Web site created by Darryl Fischer. Fischer’s collection of Peeler memorabilia will be auctioned in Cologne, Germany, next Saturday by Auction Team Breker. The early Des Moines newspaper The Register and Leader called Peeler “one of the greatest geniuses that Iowa has ever claimed,” but he was never able to reap financial rewards from his inventions. What remains of his collection today is valued at roughly $100,000. SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

Peeler, Abner

When he bought a tattered suitcase filled with mysterious things at a flea market in Los Angeles in 1991, Darryl Fischer didn’t realize that his life would change forever. More


ARTHUR DAVISON FICKE: Poet, art critic, lecturer Ficke, whose German father and grandparents arrived in Scott County in 1852, was a man of letters. University of Iowa researcher William H. Roba said many writers thought of him as a “poet’s poet.” Tall, debonair, always impeccably dressed and with perfect manners, he stood out from others. He used traditional forms for most of his poetry — odes, elegies, sonnets — but had a humorous side that sometimes emerged in his writings. Writer Floyd Dell was a friend, as was Theodore Dreiser, and Ficke had a 20-year correspondence with poet Edgar Lee Masters as well as a relationship with Edna St. Vincent Millay. SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

Ficke, Arthur Davison

Arthur Davison Ficke took up law because his father wanted him to. Then Ficke changed his mind and became the poet that he always wanted to be. More


MARCIA BLAKESLEY: Television actress Marcia Blakesley, the daughter of an Atlantic optometrist, had lost her sight by the time this picture was taken when the actress visited her parents’ home in Atlantic in July 1963. “Unfortunately,” Blakesley said, “too many blind persons sit back — perhaps because of oversolicitous associates — and never learn to do things for themselves. This is a sad thing. The handicapped person must keep his mind alert and active.” The actress never allowed her blindness to become an obstacle to her career. When acting roles dwindled because of her loss of vision, she developed a singing act. REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Blakesley, Marcia

Talented Hollywood actress Marcia Blakesley had a bright future ahead of her when a terrible thing happened. More


Cloris Leachman receives the Academy Award for best supporting actress in 1971. REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Leachman, Cloris

Comedy brought Cloris Leachman acclaim. A drama brought her the movie industry's highest award. More


Author and religious leader Glenn Clark, described as a mystical Christian, believed that effective prayer was based on “positive faith, sincere love and radiant joy.” As a boy, Clark had a dream in which he envisioned his life in segments, from ages 14 to 21, 21 to 28, 28 to 35 and 35 to 42, and subsequently tried to live them as he had dreamed them. He counted among his friends and associates food scientist George Washington Carver, railroad pioneer Ralph Budd and author James Norman Hall, all with Iowa connections. The Macalester Park Publishing Co. that Clark established continues to issue many of his books, some of them available in fresh formats. Clark earned an honorary doctorate from Grinnell College in 1940. Among his many endeavors, he established the Clear Horizons magazine, College Farthest Out and the United Prayer Tower. REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Clark, Glenn

Glenn Clark strongly believed in the power of prayer. More


Sue Lyon starred in the juicy title role of the 1962 movie

Lyon, Sue

Sue Lyon was a completely unknown 14-year-old when tapped to star in the juicy title role of the 1962 movie “Lolita.” More


In this April 1, 1999 file photo, billionaire J.R. Simplot is seen at his office in the Simplot Building in downtown Boise, Idaho. A coroner says Simplot died Sunday, May 25, 2008, at his home in Boise at the age of 99. Simplot was known as the spud king of America whose wealth also helped create one of the world's biggest computer chip makers. (AP Photo/Troy Maben, File)

Simplot, J.R.

J.R. Simplot became a billionaire — not by raising the golden corn of Iowa, but instead by producing the golden potatoes of Idaho, his adopted state. More


LAURENCE C. JONES: Educator In 1954, University of Iowa President Virgil Hancher named Jones one of the school's top 10 alumni. A year later, Mississippi Gov. Hugh White called Jones “Mississippi's first citizen.” Jones became known as “the little professor of Piney Woods,” and author Beth Day used that as the title for her 1955 biography of Jones. Jones himself wrote several books, including “Piney Woods and Its Story,” published in 1922. Jones' favorite credo was: “Pray as if it all depended on God, but work as if it all depended on you.” Piney Woods School suffered damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but made repairs and continues to operate. REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Jones, Laurence Clifton

Laurence Clifton Jones couldn't bear to think that he was a well-educated Northerner, yet most other young African Americans were not - especially in the Deep South. More


Pioneering aviator Phoebe Omlie was a friend of fellow aviatrix Amelia Earhart . She told a Des Moines Tribune reporter that she was the last person to bid Earhart goodbye before Earhart embarked on her final flight in 1937. Omlie joined Earhart as a charter member of the “Ninety-Nines,” an exclusive club of female aviators. Omlie was devastated by the death of her husband, Vernon, in a commercial plane crash at St. Louis in 1936, and she never remarried. \uFEFFIn 1935, Eleanor Roosevelt named her one of the 12 greatest women in the United States. REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie

Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie fell in love with aviation when she was a petite, vivacious teenager. Fearless and with an adventurous spirit, she was the first to succeed in many flying exploits: More


This photo appeared on the cover of Peale's final book, “A Lifetime of Positive Thinking.” In it, she tells of the first time she met her future husband. “We shook hands. And then a surprising thing happened. He held my hand just a fraction of a second longer than was necessary. I thought to myself: ‘This is going to be interesting!'

Peale, Ruth Stafford

The Rev. Norman Vincent Peale, the esteemed clergyman and motivational speaker who told the world about "The Power of Positive Thinking," didn't influence millions of people all by himself. More


Fred Grandy: Radio talk-show host, congressman, actor “I always knew I was going to be an actor,” Grandy says of his boyhood in Sioux City. On the air four hours daily, he says he is almost always in good voice thanks to the training he received as an actor. Well-educated, articulate and with a quick wit, he has always followed his own instincts. Because of his demanding work schedule, he says, he rarely gets back to Iowa . In recent years at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Affairs, he designed and taught a course on how nonprofit organizations influence public policy. He does not pursue any hobbies right now, but is an avid reader, and says, “I enjoy doing that, so it’s not much of an effort.” SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

Grandy, Fred

One of Iowa’s best-known native sons, Fred Grandy describes his career as “eclectic” to date — “not random.” More


Anita

Snook, Neta

Anita “Neta” Snook was a fearless young woman who took to the skies when ladies didn’t do such dangerous things. Without her, Amelia Earhart possibly would never have learned how to fly. More


Songwriter Bart Howard has been described as elegant, urbane and smart in business matters. Lena Horne included Howard's “Let Me Love You” in her repertoire. When Frank Sinatra turned 50, he asked Howard to write a song for him, and Howard composed“The Man in the Looking Glass,” which Sinatra included in his “September of My Years” album. Howard was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999 and at the end of his life saw his music regaining popularity. SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

Howard, Bart

"Fly me to the moon, / And let me play among the stars, / Let me see what spring is like / On Jupiter and Mars. ..." On planet Earth, it would be hard to find anyone who has not heard this modern classic song that brought fame to composer Bart Howard. More


Hoyt Sherman SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

Sherman, Hoyt

Hoyt Sherman could not have imagined, when crossing the wild prairie to reach Fort Des Moines in 1848, that his name would be on the lips of central Iowans well into the 21st century. More


Claire C. Patterson's biographer and peer George H. Tilton described him as energetic, innovative, determined and “modest about his own accomplishments.” The tenacious Patterson ardently fought to remove lead from the environment. He received many scientific awards, and an asteroid discovered in 1980 is named in his honor. A peak in the Queen Maude Mountains in Antarctica also carries his name. SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

Patterson, Claire

Long before anyone else, Claire Patterson was warning the world about the dangers of lead poisoning. More


Eva Marie Leonard SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

Leonard, Eva Marie

Eva Marie Leonard's beauty and singing talent paved her way into show business. Why would anyone want to murder her? The 60-year-old mystery surrounding her death remains unsolved. More


Emerson REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Emerson, Hope

Hope Emerson made it big in show business at a time when most large women couldn't. More


Hank Worden, who sometimes was billed early on as Hank Warden, was tall and thin with a distinctive voice and mannerisms. An Iowan by birth, he reportedly grew up on a cattle ranch near Glendive, Mont. Although he appeared in hundreds of films and TV shows, his showiest role in a career of many decades was in John Wayne's “The Searchers,” as the near moronic Mose Harper. On TV, as shown above in 1972, he was in many western- or rustic-themed shows such as “Petticoat Junction” and “Green Acres.” SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

Worden, Hank

Hank Worden did what few character actors can do - build a strong fan base that continues long after his death. More


Ralph Budd SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

Budd, Ralph

When American railroads were in their heyday, Ralph Budd was a star. More


Naughton REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Naughton, John

Anyone who visits a dentist can thank John Naughton for creating the reclining chair that puts both dentist and patient in comfortable positions. More


Parsons REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Parsons, Louella

More


Wayne SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

Wayne, John

As a boy in Winterset, John Wayne played at the drugstore run by his father. He pretended he was a cowboy as he rode a hobbyhorse made from a broomstick. More


London REGISTER FILE PHOTO

London, Babe

More


Hoover REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Hoover, Lou

The phrase "world traveler" doesn't do justice to Lou Henry Hoover, the wife of Herbert Hoover and the first lady from 1929 to 1933. She could live anywhere and adapt to any situation. More


REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Hoover, Herbert

Before he was president, Herbert Clark Hoover was an extraordinary humanitarian with an international reputation. Before that he was an engineer who built a fortune. Before that he was a simple Iowa farm boy. More


Love REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Love, Phyllis

Phyllis Love was Gary Cooper's daughter and Dick Clark's wife — on the movie screen, that is. More


Hayes REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Hayes, Linda

Linda Hayes reached her goal of becoming a movie star. Then she put her career aside because her family came first. More



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Are they over?
By TomLongden:
From: Des Moines Register
1/2/2009 12:26 AM CST

ABOUT THIS PAGE

Iowans make a name for themselves in every field of endeavor. Diverse people have settled on Iowa's rich soil, but their common thread is intelligence, courage and a determination to do well.

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