(OT) Famous Alums - final article

Wondering if you guys could help me; I'm doing a little research for the Sun, and I want to get a list of famous Cornell alums. I know quite a few already, but could you all list the ones you know?

(Especially those who have been or are in showbiz). Thanks very much. I appreciate it



[www.cornelldailysun.com]

There used to be a stock list in the media guide.

Chris Reeve, '74
John Megna, '74 (child actor- To Kill a Mockingbird, Startrek)

Huey Lewis comes to mind.

Ed Marinaro of football and TV's Hill Street Blues.

What about that former ESPN guy? Keith something. Or Kevin something?

I had Bill Maher and Bill Nye off the top of my head, and then I found this... source: [cuinfo.cornell.edu]

Some famous Alumni:
(more alumni of note may be found in the 2002 edition of CU Facts)

Blanchard, Kenneth AB '61 PhD '67: Management consultant and writer who co-authored The One Minute Manager series with Norman Vincent Peale.

Blanchard, Marjorie AB '62, MA '65: Lecturer, writer, and co-author of Working Well: Managing for Health and High Performance and The One Minute Manager Gets Fit.

Bourke-White, Margaret AB '27: Photo-journalist.

Brody, Jane BS '62: Author, science writer New York Times. Author of Jane Brody's Good Food Book and Jane Brody's Nutrition Book.

Brothers, Joyce BS '47: Psychologist, author, TV and radio personality.

Buck, Pearl S. MA '26: Pulitzer Prize for The Good Earth (1931); Nobel Award in Literature (1938) "for her rich and genuine epic pictures of Chinese life, and for her masterly biographies."

Burt, Richard AB '69: U.S. Ambassador to West Germany

Conable, Barber AB '42, LLB '48: President of World Bank, former member of U.S. Congress.

Coors, Adolph AB '07 and Coors, Joseph BS '39: founder/executives of the nation's largest single brewery

Arthur Dean AB '19: former US Ambassador to Korea

Funt, Allen AB '34: Producer, originator of "Candid Camera."

Ginsburg, Ruth Bader AB '54: U.S. Supreme Court justice

Gould, Harold AM '48, PhD '53: Stage, screen, and TV actor. Appeared in film "The Sting" and TV series "Rhoda."

Greatbatch, Wilson BEE '50: Inventor of the cardiac pacemaker. Designed biomedical equipment used on NASA space monkeys; inducted into the inventor Hall of Fame, Washington, DC in 1986.

Harmon, Derrick BS '84: A two-time All-Ivy team selection and the 1983 Ivy League Player of the Year. He is second on Cornell's all-time rushing list behind Ed Marino and has several Cornell scoring and rushing records. He played
the 1984 and 1985 seasons with the San Francisco 49'ers as a running back and a kickoff returner, helping the 49'ers win the Super Bowl in 1985. He made the Associated Press Division I-AA All-America second team as a senior, and was a two-time Academic All-American.

Heimlich, Henry AB '41, MD '43: Surgeon, author. Developed "Heimlich Maneuver," invented esophagoplasty.

Hicks, Catherine MFA '76: Actress on "Ryan's Hope." Movies: "Trouble," "Bad News Bears," "Tucker's Witch," and "Marilyn."

Holland, Jerome (Brud) BS '39, MS '41: Educator, diplomat, businessman. Former president of Hampton Institute, former ambassador to Sweden.

Jones, Robert Trent (attended 1928-1930): Golf course architect, designed more than 400 of world's courses.

Kane, Robert BS '36: Past president, US Olympic Committee. Founded National Sports Festival.

Kingsley, Sidney AB '28: Playwright, director. Author of "Men in White" for which he won a Pulitzer Prize for Best American Play (1934), "The Patriots" (1943), Author, director of "Dead End" (1936), "Ten Million Ghosts" (1937), "The World We Make"

Maher, Bill AB '78: comedian, author, and host of Politically Incorrect television panel show

Morrison, Toni AM 55: author and winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize and 1993 Nobel Prize for literature

Nye, Bill BS, MEng '77: award-winning popular-science media host and author

Reeve, Christopher AB '74: actor, activist for medical research

Reno, Janet AB '60: U.S. attorney general 1993-2000

Smits, Jimmy MFA '82: actor

White, E.B. AB '21: writer (Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little) and editor; co-author (with William Strunk, PhD 1896) of Elements of Style

Keith Olbermann

ummm, doesb't the word "alumnae" imply that he is only looking for women?

Normally, yes...but in this case, I made a mistake. I corrected my initial post. Thanks for pointing it out though .

So, I'm looking for any famous alums, male or female.

Author Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse-Five, Mother Night) also attended Cornell during the WWII years, but I don't believe he graduated. Of course, Avash, if you work for the Sun, you probably already knew that since Vonnegut wrote for the Sun.

Indeed I did ...

Thanks guys for your help. I'm writing a column on the famous Cornell alums who made it in showbiz. It'll be in the Sun this Thursday.

I think I've got all I need, so thanks very much again.

Now we can all go back to talking about what's really important...hockey...

I don't know how far back you want to go, Avash, but:

The actor Adolphe Menjou was apparently a Cornell engineer.

[palimpsest.stanford.edu]

The actor Franchot Tone graduated Cornell in three years Phi Beta Kappa--or at least that's what this web site says:

[www.lynnpdesign.com]

I believe the actor Dan Dailey was also a Cornell alum, and a TKE, but I can't find confirmation on the web.

They all lived sometime after Shakespeare and before Avash.

And no list would be complete without Cornell drop-out Huey Lewis!

He was in Cayuga's Waiters I believe

Don't forget Dick and Jeremy Schaap.

Here's a quote from Christopher Reeve, which I have included in my article, regarding his first Cornell hockey practice -

"On the first day of practice for the freshman team, I noticed that there were only two Americans and the rest were Canadians. I was in the goal, and the whole team lined up on the blue line, each with a puck, and they were supposed to take turns going from left to right taking a slapshot. They started to get out of sequence, and sometimes two or three were coming at me, faster than I'd ever seen a puck come at me in my entire lifetime. I got absolutely shelled, and I thought, 'You know, I'm probably going to end up with no teeth,' and so I retreated to the safety of the theatre department. That was the end of my hockey career. In retrospect, I made the right choice. And I still have all my teeth."

Pretty cool, eh?

Of course, even if he HAD played, he would have been backing up Dryden.

Anyhow, you guys were a lot of help, and I'll be sure to post the link to the article later in the week. There are plenty of hockey references in it

Umm, if Reeve was Class of '74 as the list above indicates, he would not have been been backing up Dryden. Class of '74 would have arrived on campus in fall of 1970, more than a year after Dryden left.

Of course, even if he HAD played, he would have been backing up Dryden.

Was Dryden on the list?

Besides Derrick Harmon `84, there are two more from my graduating class that may qualify. One is author and TV personality Ann Coulter and the other is former Rolling Stone senior editor David Wild. As you will see in Wild's bio, he was also on the staff of the Sun. [www.kepplerassociates.com]

Here is Coulter's.
[www.anncoulter.org]

Derrick and David were cool guys to know on the hill. Coulter was in DG.

Coulter's an imbecile, but even were she not she's questionable for the list, considering (1) she unabashedly hates Cornell and (2) her 15 minutes were up about 6 months ago.

Greg - where do you get (1) from?

Janet Reno is an imbecile too, but she was listed.

how could you forget the actor Jimmy Smits? He went to Cornell

The Sun has had a list of famous alumni for years and years, so I'm surprised you needed help. In fact, the freshman edition typically has an article or two on that same subject, so you might want to look at some past editions.

Have you looked at the Sun alumni site: [www.cornellsun.org]

It doesn't have a complete list of alums from either the University or the Sun, but it does have some names that you might recognize (and others you won't but should).

Some of my personal faves (bach' degree only--I don't like counting the others):

Harold Bloom, culture/education critic/crank
David Burpee, the seed guy
Richard Fariña, seminal folkie
Sheldon Glashow, kick-ass physicist
Laurens Hammond, inventor of eponymous organ
Barbara McClintock, truly kick-ass botanist/geneticist***
Thomas Pynchon, bizarro novelist
Steve Reich, sleep-inducing modern composer
Dick Schaap, dearly departed sports journalist
David Starr Jordan, first prez of Stanford

*** Perhaps my fave "famous" alum of all-time. McClintock rocks. Arguably the winner of the "Most Important/Influential Alum Most Folks Have Never Heard Of" award. And she really stuck around and gave back: CU bachelors', doctorate, professor, you name it. Look her up, it's worth it.

ESPN is or was home to many alums, as noted in the Cornell Magazine article of a few years ago (Bill Pidto, Mark Schwartz, the Schaaps, Olbermann, Whit Watson)

The NYT is also home to CU alums including metro columnist Sam Roberts (also appearing on NY1), Liz Robbins who covers the Nets and wrote today's game story about the All-Star Games, national reporter Marc Lacey and metro reporter Abby Goodnough.

Don't forget E.B. White.

And don't forget the great sportswriter for The New York Times, Allison Danzig, who played football at Cornell.

[www.tennisfame.com]

I'd like to point out that Dr. Heimlich was also Drum Major of the marching band when he was a student.

Don't forget about Hawk, one of the American Gladiators, a former Cornell football team captain and MVP!

[www.phrd.ab.ca]

Now, now. Reno is a bitch, not an imbecile. Get your terms right.

As for (1), each time I have heard Coulter interviewed, she has gone out of her way to make her disgust at Cornell in particular and the Ivies in general known vociferously (the only way she ever does anything). The last time I specifically heard her was on Charlie Rose about 6 months ago.

I will give Coulter credit, however, for making me a liberal. In an interview about a year ago she blasted libertarians for being "blind to the fact that while there are a few bad Republicans there are no good Democrats." Good grief, what an idiot. She and Tucker Carlson should get together -- between the two of them they might weigh in with half a brain.

Cute, though. A little long in the tooth, but still more baggable than anything we "subversives" (her actual word, laughably) on the left have to offer.

I forgot to add that Schaap the Elder was also a (not so great, forgive me) lacrosse goalie at Cornell. He had the pleasure of trying to stop Syracuse's Jim Brown, a subject he was always happy to talk about. His opposite number between the pipes for SU was none other than Chief Oren Lyons, wolf clan, Haudenosaunee (Onandaga, Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy).

I think one could argue that Dr. Jim Maas should be added to the list. In fact, he's probably more notable in certain circles than many of the people listed above.

In addition to Olberman, there's at least one other (and maybe more) ESPNer with a Cornell connection -- Bill Pidto maybe?

alums in showbiz, guys, showbiz...

...who, BTW, is considered one of the best, if not the best, lax goalies in NCAA history, IIRC.

Maas is in showbiz. Haven't you seen his Oprah appearance?

Maas is in showbiz. Haven't you seen his class?

Or his TAs?

What about famous dropout Harry Chapin, and Peter Yarrow (from Peter Paul and Mary, and I forget if he graduated)

Howard Hawks, director of "The Thing," "His Girl Friday," "Rio Bravo," "Bringing Up Bâby," etc. I'm shocked he's not in the official Cornell blurb -- one of the greatest American directors ever.

Is TV journalism show biz? CBS TV journalist David Hawkins is another member of the class of '84 who done good. I've seen him on the tube a few times ducking bullets in the Middle East. I don't know if he's still there.

And if you want a fictional angle, Cornell is one of the many schools Charles Foster Kane was kicked out of.

Greg wrote:

"Bringing Up Bâby,"

We met Rosie, the old lady from "The Wedding Singer," at an alumni event in LA.

She got her MFA from Cornell.

Afterthought: Can we get the band to play "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" so Bâby can have three songs?

Film Noir character actor Dan Duryea was a Cornell grad as well.

Thanks Al, I needed that.

How about Pete Gogolak? First to effectively kick a football soccer style at the college and pro levels. First to jump from the AFL to the NHL, setting off the bidding war that led the merger of the two leagues.

That would be "AFL to NFL." Not every pro athlete Cornellian goes on to play hockey. . .

> Film Noir character actor Dan Duryea was a Cornell grad as well.

That's great! To think one of the truly great film noir line involves an alum.

"The cheaper the punk, the gaudier the patter." -- Bogart, on Duryea's character in The Maltese Falcon.

Is he the one who gets disarmed with his own jacket? "A blind newsie took 'em away, but I made him give 'em back."

Pete Gogolak, responsible for the NFL-AFL merger!!

Precisely, John.

I believe that Bogart quote was referencing the character Wilmer, played by Elisha Cook, Jr.

A few showbiz alum oversights:

Greg Graffin, of the enduring punk band Bad Religion
Kate Snow, CNN anchor
Richard Price, screenwriter and novelist ("Sea of Love," "The Color of Money," "Clockers"
Eudora Welty, novelist/storywriter with several movies based on her stories ("The Key," "The Worn Path," "The Hitch-Hikers," et al.)
Samantha Shaber, singer-songwriter
Jesse Harris, singer-songwriter (of the duo Once Blue)
Naren Shankar, screenwriter ("Star Trek:TNG," "Farscape," "CSI"
Peter Ostrum (Charlie in "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", though this one is cheating a bit - he wasn't an alum at the time. He never made another movie, then got his DVM at Cornell.

And for what it's worth, Cornell - like most universities - considers you an "alum" if you ever matriculated, unless you disavow your alumni status. That includes people like Hugh "Huey Lewis" Cregg III, Harry Chapin, and Kurt Vonnegut.

Beeeej

Jeffrey "Beeeej" Anbinder '94 wrote:

Richard Price, screenwriter and novelist ("Sea of Love," "The Color of Money," "Clockers"

Are you sure that's the right Richard Price? I happen to know a Cornell alum named Richard Price who's a gravitational physicist:

[wander.physics.utah.edu]

Quite sure. Are you sure you're not the famous accordion player John Whelan? (I kid you not.)

[www.cornelldailysun.com]

Beeeej

David Starr Jordan
Founding president of Stanford University

According to Morris Bishop's definitive history of Cornell, Jordan NEVER graduated from Cornell with a bachelor's degree. Instead, he became the first recipient of a master's degree from CU. He later became a trustee of the university.

Don't forget Doug Osheroff (PhD, physics, Nobel winner), who is the physics department chair at Stanford this year.

Right you are!

> I believe that Bogart quote was referencing the character Wilmer, played by Elisha Cook, Jr.

Yes, it was about Wilmer -- I could have sworn he was played by Duryea, however I could be wrong.

Jeffrey "Beeeej" Anbinder '94 wrote:

And for what it's worth, Cornell - like most universities - considers you an "alum" if you ever matriculated, unless you disavow your alumni status. That includes people like Hugh "Huey Lewis" Cregg III, Harry Chapin, and Kurt Vonnegut.

Especially if you become famous, I'm sure.

Carrier ME Cornell '02 or '03, Time mag said AC is one of the most important inventions of 20th century.

Since we've moved way off the entertainment element of this thread:

Malia Mills '89, women's swimwear designer of the moment

Jill Cornell Tarter, '65, of Contact fame.

I read today that NBC has signed Keith Olbermann to host some 120-140 hours of cable coverage during the Athens Olympics.

Article here

Did anyone mention, my classmate and former class president, David Price '87? Emmy Award winner and now weather "dude" on Good Day New York (and sometimes seen on Good Day Live, the nationally syndicated LA version of the same morning show, with Jillian Barberie).

Dave was named one of the most eligible bachelors in America a couple of years ago, by People Magazine. (He will never live that one down, my friend.)

You can now add the new Chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment the parent company of the Leafs and Raptors Larry Tannenbaum to the list

And don't forget Marty T '74 aspiring women's swimwear critic.

This is not a shameless self-promotion, I swear; this thread got so many replies, I feel compelled to put the link to my article here -

[www.cornelldailysun.com]

The article is, of course, in the Red Letter Daze (Arts and Entertainment) section, thus most of the motives behind the five choices.

Enjoy

As a follow-up to Beeeej's mention of Jesse Harris, he is the songwriter for some of Norah Jones' songs, and won Song of the Year last night at the Grammys. He is class of '91 and often plays (to small crowds) at The Living Room on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His current band is Jesse Harris and the Fedinandos (album available at a store near you). Oh, he was in Delta Chi, FWIW.