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1-7 of 7
- Born during the Depression to a dirt-poor single mother in Atlantic City. New Jersey, Dave Thomas was adopted as an infant by a traveling construction worker and his wife. Moving out on his own at age 15, Thomas held a succession of jobs in the food industry, starting out as a busboy and working his way up. A fateful meeting in 1956 with Col. Harland Sanders, founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain, led to Thomas' investing money in one of Sanders' KFC franchises, which paid off handsomely and made him a millionaire by the time he was 35. In 1969 Thomas decided to strike out on his own and left KFC to start his own chain of fast-food restaurants, Wendy's (named after his daughter, whose name was actually Melinda but whose nickname was Wendy) Hamburgers, in Ohio. Eventually the chain grew to more than 6000 restaurants, with annual sales revenue topping $6 billion. As successful as his business career was, however, Thomas was even more famous for his appearances in the company's commercials, where he came across as just a regular guy next door who got along with everybody and was the kind of grandfather that everyone wished they'd had--which, according to many who knew and worked with him, was exactly how he was in real life. He never forgot how tough it was to be an adopted kid, and founded the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption to help both adopted children and the families who adopt them. He died of liver cancer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2002.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Fely Franquelli was born on 11 November 1916 in Manila, Philippines. She was an actress, known for Back to Bataan (1945) and Cry 'Havoc' (1943). She was married to Howard J. Hutter. She died on 8 January 2002 in Arlington, Virginia, USA.- Composer
- Soundtrack
Singer/songwriter David McWilliams was born on July 4, 1945 in the Cregagh area of Belfast, Ireland. The only child of Sam and Molly McWilliams, David moved with his family to Ballymena when he was three years old. McWilliams attended both the Model School and the Ballymena Technical School. Following graduation, he served an apprenticeship at an engineering factory that built torpedoes. However, music was always David's first true calling: He learned how to play guitar in his early teens and formed his own dance group called The Coral Showband. McWilliams eventually started writing his own material and released his debut single "God/My Country" on the Major Minor label in 1966. David recorded his best-known and most well-regarded song "The Days of Pearly Spencer" in 1967: Although "Days of Pearly Spencer" failed to crack the UK pop charts, the haunting single was nonetheless a substantial radio hit in such places as France and the Netherlands and sold over a million copies worldwide. ("The Days of Pearly Spencer" was covered by singer Marc Almond in 1992; Almond's version of this song peaked on the UK pop radio charts at #4.) McWilliams' first album was issued that same year; it reached #38 on the UK album charts. His second album went all to way to #23 on the UK album charts while his third album charted at #39. David toured Europe extensively in the late 1960's and moved to London, England. He proved to be especially popular in France, Holland, and Italy (McWilliams re-recorded some of his songs in Italian). Alas, McWilliams' singles and albums failed to click with the masses in the early 1970's. David moved back to Northern Ireland in 1982. In 1984 McWilliams headlined a concert supporting striking coalminers and occasionally performed at the Bellycastle Northern Lights Festival. Outside of music, David was also a talented soccer player who was a goalkeeper for the soccer club Linfield in the mid-1960's. McWilliams was married twice and had eight children. He died at age 56 from a heart attack at his home in Bellycastle, County Antrim in Northern Ireland on January 8, 2002.- James Patrick Doyle was born on 9 August 1956 in Fairmont, West Virginia, USA. He was a composer, known for His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz (1914). He died on 8 January 2002 in Houston, Texas, USA.
- Boncho Urumov was born in 1937 in Shumen, Bulgaria. He was an actor, known for Na vseki kilometar - II (1971), Te naddelyaha (1986) and Strogiyat ot kvartal 'Akatziya' (1979). He died on 8 January 2002 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
- Canon M. Ramm was born on 8 June 1924 in Bournemouth, Dorset, England, UK. Canon M. was married to Mrs. M. Ramm. Canon M. died on 8 January 2002 in Harwell, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Naum Slutsky was born on 14 June 1917. He was a cinematographer, known for Zakon Antarktidy (1963), V mirnye dni (1951) and Secret Agent (1947). He died on 8 January 2002 in Richfield Springs, New York, USA.