(OT) Famous Alums - final article

[David Harding]

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.

[bigred apple]

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

[Greg Berge]

> 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.

[jtwcornell91]

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

[Tom Nachod \'63]

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

[Greg Berge]

Precisely, John.

[peterg]

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

[Beeeej]

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

[jtwcornell91]

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:

http://wander.physics.utah.edu/PriceFest/pricefest.html

[Beeeej]

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

http://www.cornelldailysun.com/articles/2153/

Beeeej

[CU at Stanford]

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.

[David Harding]

Right you are!   ::nut::

[Greg Berge]

> 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.

[Josh '99]

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.

[FRED\'83]

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