After a two-year battle with breast cancer, actress Kelly Preston passed away on Sunday, July 12. The Jerry Maguire star was 57-years-old.
In 1991, Kelly Preston married her husband John Travolta at a romantic midnight ceremony in Paris, France, after meeting on the set of the Experts. During their 28 years together, the Hollywood couple had three children, Jett, Ella Bleu, and Benjamin. Their first son Jett Travolta, died from a seizure back in January 2009, in their family vacation home in the Bahamas.
His death sparked a court case regarding the ambulance driver and his attorney blackmailing the family to keep the sensitive information about their son’s death under wraps. Nevertheless, according to the Associated Press, after the first criminal trial ended in a mistrial, John Travolta decided against testifying a second time, mentioning the severe strain the situation was causing their family.
Kelly Preston’s first role back after Jett’s death was in the Nicholas Sparks adaptation, the Last Song, with Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus. Firstly known as Marnie Mason in the 1988 film Twins, she went on to star in more popular movies such as Bonnie in the Expert, Chirk in Battlefield Earth, and Jane Aubrey in For Love of the Game. She co-starred with Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire, and as the wife of John Travolta, also co-starred as his character, John Gotti’s wife, Victoria. She also starred in Maroon 5’s music video for their popular hit She Will Be Loved.
John Travolta and their daughter Ella Bleu Travolta honored the late For Love of the Game actress on social media in their own Instagram posts. He starts by saying with a “heavy heart” he’s announcing that his “beautiful wife Kelly” had lost her “courageous fight” to breast cancer and also thanked the healthcare workers at MD Anderson Cancer Center where she received medical treatment. He also mentioned that the public may not be hearing from their family for a while. Ella Bleu also honored her mother by highlighting how she was “courageous, strong, beautiful and loving.”
The entirety of the world was shocked when United States President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. Rumors swirled, an investigation was underway, suspects were apprehended and everyone else, naturally, mourned. It looked different for everybody.
Bob Dylan hasn’t written an original song since the Tempest in 2012, though you can still catch the famed singer-songwriter on tour singing his hits. But apparently, something’s been on his mind for a while now. He tells us exactly what that is in his new 17-MINUTE song. “Murder Most Foul” is his longest song to date. Prior, his longest song was “Highlands” which clocks in at 16 minutes, 31 seconds, shorter than “Murder Most Foul” by about twenty seconds or so. The topic? The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on that fateful day.
He released the new song via Twitter, reading, "Greetings to my fans and followers with gratitude for all your support and loyalty over the years. This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting. Stay safe, stay observant and may God be with you." Bob Dylan brings us a reminder that even the most painful events can be put poetically. The Nobel Prize winner beautifully meshes art with conspiracy theories.
He blames the death of President Kennedy on a conspiracy theory. He also weaves multiple pop-culture references. From Woodstock, The Beatles, Nat King Cole, Stevie Nicks, Patsy Cline but also Lee Harvey Oswald, one of the assumed murders of JFK, who claimed: “I’m just a patsy.”
There were also dozens of other songs and artists mentioned in the song and takes on the perspective of JFK himself and mention of the bad luck that the Kennedy family has faced since his death. The line is unmissable and tragic, “we’ll get them as well.” Sonically, “Murder Most Foul” is gentle compared to the topic. With piano, the violin present takes the listener through the biggest moments of the sixties and seventies.
See more at rare.us/entertainment-and-culture/bob-dylan-jfk-assassination
Father of actor Woody Harrelson, Charles Harrelson put his family in the spotlight in the opposite way of his son, causing scrutiny and plenty of scandals. Versatile, Texas-born actor Woody Harrelson, seen in box office hits like Natural Born Killers, Seven Pounds, and Zombieland along with hit TV shows like True Detective and Cheers, was raised by his single mother, Diane Oswald. Meanwhile, his father was out in the world causing chaos.
His father was the notorious and controversial Charles V. Harrelson, and in case you don’t already know, he was a hitman. Charles Voyde Harrelson was born in Lovelady, Texas in 1938. He left Texas to join the Navy, and shortly after found his way to Los Angeles. This is where he met, married, and had three sons with Diane Lou Oswald, Woody’s mother.
It’s assumed that his contract killer career notches upwards of 20 people for his organized crimes. However, he’s only charged for two of them. Harrelson’s biggest kill was ordered by El Paso drug lord/ kingpin, Jamiel Chagra. Chagra was essentially staring down a life sentence for drug smuggling. He hadn’t gone to court yet, but he was set to appear in front of U.S. District Judge John H. Wood Jr. in the summer of 1979. The original court date was May 29, 1979, but got rescheduled. However, the judge was found dead near his car at his San Antonio home on that exact date. Chagra paid Harrelson $250,000 to kill U.S. District Judge John H. Wood Jr. aka “Maximum John.”
Harrelson also killed a Texas grain dealer, Sam Degelia, at the request of his business partner. He was tried for the murder and sentenced 15 years in prison, he walked free 5 later right after that was when he killed Judge Wood. It took the FBI years and grueling $11 million FBI investigation to uncover who-done-it and then find Harrelson.
After his multiple arrests, Harrelson admitted twice to having fired the shot that killed President John F. Kennedy. He later blamed the statement on being high and trying to land big jobs and make money. Conspiracy theorists took his words and ran with it, claiming him to be one of the “three ramps” involved in the JFK 1995 murder.
Woody Harrelson’s dad and he hadn’t crossed paths since he was 7. So, the actor didn’t know about his father’s profession until he happened to hear the news on the radio and inquired to his mother. Well into adulthood, Woody Harrelson made an attempt to befriend his father. He visited him and at one point and spent a couple million in attempts to get his father a retrial. Unfortunately, Woody Harrelson’s father never saw that retrial. He died serving his prison sentence in 2007 of a heart attack. Not before he attempted to escape Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in 1995, which failed and resulted in him being transferred to the Colorado Supermax federal prison, ADX Florence, with the likes of the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.
