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Jeff MacKay was born on 20 October 1948 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Magnum, P.I. (1980), All the President's Men (1976) and JAG (1995). He died on 22 August 2008 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

George was the son of the San Francisco Chief of Police who became a college athlete. He was the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the Pacific Fleet during World War I. In the early 1920s, George wound up in Hollywood where he worked as a stuntman and part time actor. In 1924, Director John Ford picked virtually unknown George to star in his first picture, The Iron Horse (1924). Over the next two years, he would appear in four more Ford films and would co-star with Janet Gaynor in The Blue Eagle (1926) and Sunrise (1927). "Sunrise," a winner of two Academy Awards, was the story of a simple farmer who lets another woman talk him into murdering his wife. George remained popular until sound came along. By that time, his popularity was sliding, but he did make the transition to sound. With his rugged looks and physical size, he was soon a Western Cowboy Star. He was in some of the best stories ever written, Riders of the Purple Sage (1931), and in some of the worst. But he was consistently in the Top Ten money-making Western Stars. He would appear in a few films outside the horse set, such as Ever Since Eve (1934), but those roles would be few. By the end of the 1930s, George was still a popular 'B' movie Cowboy Star, but he would not take the parts as seriously as he did a decade before. During World War II, he hung up his spurs, and he re-enlisted in the Navy where he fought in the Pacific and was decorated many times. After the war, when he would not find work in acting, John Ford, his old Director, would give him work with the cavalry in three of his films.

Roy Clark was born on 15 April 1933 in Meherrin, Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for Hee Haw (1969), Uphill All the Way (1986) and The Kallikaks (1977). He was married to Barbara Joyce Rupard. He died on 15 November 2018 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Valentin de Vargas was born on 26 April 1935 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. He was an actor and director, known for To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Touch of Evil (1958) and Hatari! (1962). He was married to M. Diana Pace, Nome Jones and Arlene McQuade. He died on 10 June 2013 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Dennis Letts was born on 5 September 1934 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Cast Away (2000), Secondhand Lions (2003) and Passenger 57 (1992). He was married to Billie Letts. He died on 22 February 2008 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Tyler Lambert was born on 2 July 1984 in California, USA. He died on 6 May 2010 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Clem Harvey was born in 1919 in the USA. He was an actor, known for Ocean's Eleven (1960), One-Eyed Jacks (1961) and State Fair (1962). He was married to Lenice Adele Kittleson. He died in 1988 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Emily Smith was born on 13 August 1943 in Sullivan, Indiana, USA. She died on 4 January 2013 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Tom Tripplehorn was born on 2 February 1944 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Tom was married to Suzanne Ferguson. Tom died on 15 March 2019 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Robert Gray was born on 10 February 1945 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Innerspace (1987), The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) and Hamburger: The Motion Picture (1986). He died on 31 October 2013 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Jay Cronley was born on 9 November 1943 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. He was a writer, known for Let It Ride (1989), Quick Change (1990) and Funny Farm (1988). He was married to Connie. He died on 26 February 2017 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Bill Vint was born on 22 November 1942 in Wichita, Kansas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Other Side of the Mountain (1975), The Baltimore Bullet (1980) and Felony (1994). He died on 29 November 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Billie Letts was born on 30 May 1938 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Billie was a writer, known for Where the Heart Is (2000) and Veritas, Prince of Truth (2006). Billie was married to Dennis Letts. Billie died on 2 August 2014 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Chief Tug Smith was an actor, known for Superman (1978), The White Buffalo (1977) and Windwalker (1980). He died on 19 November 1983 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Writer, director, and producer Cliff Roquemore was born on September 28, 1948 in Detroit, Michigan. After studying theatre at Wayne State University, Roquemore began his career writing and directing stage plays at such Motown venues as Concept East, Detroit Repertory Theatre, and the Vest Pocket Theatre. Cliff was involved in more than 200 regional or Off-Broadway stage productions which include "Selma," "Eubie," "Shaka Zulu," and "Invasion of Addis Ababa." Moreover, Roquemore wrote and/or directed three blaxploitation comedies starring Rudy Ray Moore. In addition, Cliff also wrote the award-winning musical "The Gospel Truth," created the musicals "Showgirls" and "Color Me Dorothy - The Dorothy Dandridge Story" in collaboration with Motown songwriter William Stevenson, directed a one-woman show for Eartha Kitt at Nick Stewart's Ebony Showcase Theater in Los Angeles, California in 1990, and, in 1999, wrote and produced the Off-Broadway comedy "Lotto: Experience the Dream," which ran for one and a half years at Union Square Theatre in New York City. He died of cancer at age 53 on February 5, 2002 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the time of his death Roquemore was survived by his wife Jennifer, two sons, two daughters, his mother, five sisters, two brothers, and five grandchildren.

William Boyce was born on 5 April 1932 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for The Slime People (1963), Cafe Purgatory (1999) and The Nation's Health (1983). He died on 29 April 2013 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Dwight Twilley was born on 6 June 1951 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for You're Next (2011), The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) and Wayne's World (1992). He was married to Jan. He died on 18 October 2023 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Born in Oberhausen (Rhineland) Germany, Josef emigrated to Ithaca, New York in 1951 and moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1955. His professional career was in broadcasting, retiring as the manager of commercial productions of Channel 2 in Tulsa in 1993. His civic career consisted of work in the Theater Tulsa, television and film production, one of the founders of Tulsa's Oktoberfest, an active member of the German American Society Arts Association and German American Society Building Corporation in Tulsa.

Because of his active involvement in the German American Society, he was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Distinguished Service Cross) by the Counsel General for the Federal Republic of Germany, on the tenth anniversary of the German American Society of Tulsa.

Prize-winning novelist (1978 Ernest Hemingway Award, 1997 Edgar Allan Poe Award) as well as professor of English, first at Pomona College, in California, and later at the University of Tulsa. In 1985 he published "Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers", upon which was based the 1989 TV miniseries starring BG: Richard Crenna.

Avis Miller was born on 4 November 1945 in Ohio, United States. She died on 11 November 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States.

Yevgeni Yevtushenko (Evgeni Evtushenko) is a Russian poet, writer, actor, and film director who is best known for his poem 'Babi Yar' and the eponymous symphony made in collaboration with composer Dmitri Shostakovich.

He was born Yevgeni Aleksandrovich Gangnus (later he took his mother's last name, Evtushenko) on July 18, 1933 in Zima, Irkutsk region, Siberia, Russia. His maternal grandfather, named Ermolai Naumovich Evtushenko, was a Red Army officer during the Russian Revolution and the Civil War. His father, named Aleksandr Rudolfovich Gangnus, was a geologist, as well as his mother, named Zinaida Ermolaevna Evtushenko; who later became a singer. He accompanied his father on geological expeditions to Kazakhstan in 1948, and to Altai, Siberia, in 1950.

Young Yevtushenko wrote his first verses and humorous songs "chastushki" while living in Zima, Siberia. After the Second World War Yevtushenko moved to Moscow. From 1951-1954 he studied at the Gorky Institute of Literature in Moscow, from which he dropped out. In 1952 he joined the Union of Soviet Writers after publication of his first collection of poetry. His early poem 'So mnoyu chto-to proiskhodit' (Someting is happening to me) became a very popular song, in performance by actor-songwriter Aleksandr Dolsky. In 1955 Yevtushenko wrote a poem about the Soviet borders being an obstacle in his life. He was banned from traveling, but gained wide popularity with the Russian public. His first important publication was the poem 'Stantsiya Zima' (Zima Junction 1956).

His success grew after the 1956 speech by Nikita Khrushchev denouncing Joseph Stalin. Khrushchev declared a cultural "Thaw" that allowed some freedom of expression. Yevtushenko's powerful poem "Nasledniki Stalina" (The Heirs of Stalin) claimed that the atmosphere of Stalinism was still dominating the country. It was initially published in the communist paper 'Pravda' in 1961, and was immediately censored. Yevtushenko became one of the most famous poets of the 50's and 60's in the Soviet Union. He was part of the 60's generation, which included such writers as Vasiliy Aksyonov, Andrei Voznesensky, Bella Akhmadulina, Robert Rozhdestvensky; as well as actors Andrey Mironov, Aleksandr Zbruev, Natalya Fateeva, and many others. As a close associate of writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and as a member of the 60's generation, Yevtushenko made an important contribution to promote progress, openness, human rights and freedoms in the former Soviet Union.

He was banned from traveling outside the Soviet Union in the 1960s. At that time the KGB Chairman Vladimir Semichastny and the next KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov reported to the Communist Politburo on the "Anti-Soviet activity of poet Yevtushenko", but he was not intimidated. In 1965, he joined Anna Akhmatova, Korney Ivanovich Chukovskiy, Jean-Paul Sartre and others and co-signed the letter of protest against the unfair trial of Joseph Brodsky. He also co-signed the letter against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. His poems covered a wide range of political issues from "Stalinism" to anti-war and patriotic themes, often causing a controversial perception of his eclectic style and views. Several of his lyrical poems were set to music and became popular Russian songs. In 1989 Yevtushenko was elected as a representative in the Soviet Parliament, where he was a member of the pro-democratic group supporting Mikhail Gorbachev.

Yevtushenko is known across the world for his powerful poem "Babi Yar", written in 1961. He protested the Soviet Union's refusal to recognize Babi Yar, a ravine in Kiev; as a site where Nazis committed a mass murder of 33,000 Jews in September of 1941. Yevtushenko and Dmitri Shostakovich worked together on the famous Symphony No. 13 titled "Babi Yar", a vocal setting of poems by Yevtushenko. It was first performed in Moscow on December 18, 1962 under the baton of Kirill Kondrashin. Yevtushenko and Shostakovich toured many countries with the performances of "Babi Yar", and made several recordings of the Symphony No. 13. The site of Babi Yar is now an important WWII memorial, that was built with the support of many contributors. This was partly the result of creative cooperation and outstanding artistry of both Yevtushenko and Shostakovich.

He was filmed as himself during the 50s as a performing poet-actor. Yevtushenko contributed lyrics to several Soviet films and contributed to the script of Soy Cuba (1964), a Soviet propaganda film. His acting career began with the leading role in 'Vzlyot (1979) by director Savva Kulish, where he played the leading role as Russian rocket scientist Tsiolkovsky. Yevtyshenko also made two films as a writer/director. His film 'Detsky Sad' (aka.. Kindergarten, 1983) and his last film, 'Pokhorony Stalina' (aka.. Stalin's Funeral, 1990) are dealing with life in the Soviet Union. He received numerous Russian and International awards for his literary works.

Yevgeni Yevtushenko has been teaching Russian literature at the University of Oklahoma in Tulsa for several years. He also teaches seminars on literature and gives public performances of his poetry. Yevtushenko tours Russia annually with public performances during the summer months. He lives and works in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has a home in Moscow, Russia.

Birth: Jan. 3, 1917 Harris Countyer Texas, USA Death: Aug. 20, 1988 Tulsa Tulsa County Oklahoma, USA

Spouse: Luyclle Ezell, Daughter Lucy and husband Brett Bailey and Sons Roger and Bill. Grandchildren: Kelly Brett Bailey, wife Tammi Mercer Bailey and daughter Alex and son Adam, Kristi Bailey and daughters Tori and Skyler, Patty Bailey and husband Eric Williams, daughter Mandy and son Hunter, Brittany Bailey and Son Kade. Great-grand children Ava (Tori's) and Payton (Mandy's)

William Leon McAuliffe (Jan. 3, 1917 ~ Aug. 20, 1988) was a western swing musician and band leader famous for his steel guitar solos with Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys. McAuliffe achieved fame as a steel guitarist in the heyday of Western Swing. His now classic tune Steel Guitar Rag inspired Wills to spotlight McAuliffe by calling out, Look out, friends - here's Leon. Take it away, boys, take it away! McAuliffe began playing both Hawaiian and standard guitar at age fourteen. Leon began appearing on a local radio station as part of the group the Waikiki Strummers in 1931. McAuliffe, at age 16, worked with the Light Crust Doughboys, playing both rhythm guitar and steel guitar. In 1935, he joined Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, who would soon become the premier western swing band in existence. Leon stayed with Wills until World War II. While with Wills he helped compose San Antonio Rose (instrumental version). Leon is more noted, however, for his most famous composition, Steel Guitar Rag and his playing, along with that of Houston's Bob Dunn (Light Crust Doughboys) that popularized the steel guitar in the United States. McAuliffe learned to electronically amplify his guitar from Bob Dunn, who later was a member of Milton Brown's Musical Brownies. During WWII he was a flight instructor in the Army Air force. After the war, McAuliffe returned to Tulsa, Oklahoma (OK) forming his western swing band and releasing a number of recordings, including Panhandle Rag (Columbia 20546) which reached number six in 1949. His signature song was Steel Guitar Rag, a tune he apparently adapted from a combination of Sylvester Weaver's Guitar Rag and part of the Hawaiian song On The Beach At Waikiki. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011. McAuliffe soon opened his Cimarron Ballroom in the remodeled Akdar Shrine Mosque in Tulsa, OK. He and his band, Leon McAuliffe and His Cimarron Boys, named for the ballroom, recorded several songs. The group played regularly on a Tulsa radio station and signed a contract with Columbia Records and McAuliffe's instrumental showcase Panhandle Rag became a top-10 hit in 1949. McAuliffe also opened a recording studio, Cimarron Records. During the heyday of western swing music the phrase Take it away Leon, nearly became a household phrase in the south. It was spoken by Bob Wills and referred to Leon McAuliffe, one of the best and most famous steel guitarists in the world. Though McAuliffe is most famous for his association with the Texas Playboys, he also had a respectable solo career. Around mid-1953, he was doing a daily show over the 50,000 watt KVOO in Tulsa, OK from 12:15pm. Leon also appeared on Wednesday nights at 11:00pm as well as Saturday nights at 10:30pm on a show called the Western Dance Parade. Leon and his band also played every Wednesday and Saturday evenings at the Cimarron Ball Room in Tulsa. In 1954 he purchased radio station KAMO in Rogers, Arkansas. In the late 1950s, he appeared on ABC-TV's Jubilee USA and other broadcasts. McAuliffe funded a music program at Rogers State College in Claremore, Oklahoma, paying for a recording studio and office on campus. For several years McAuliffe taught at Will Rogers State College in the Hank Thompson School of Country Music. It was from this studio and office that Junior Brown taught guitar. McAuliffe was always giving to his students, featuring them in his concerts around northeastern Oklahoma. By the 1960s, western swing had fallen out of vogue and McAuliffe began only playing locally. Later Starday released some of his work with the Cimarron Boys. Leon also recorded a couple of albums during the '60s for Dot and Capitol. Western swing music was re-popularized due to the work of bands like Asleep At The Wheel and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen in the early '70s. In 1971 McAuliffe and Wills made a reunion recording with other members of the Texas Playboys and Merle Haggard. After Wills died (1975), McAuliffe participated in a tribute at Fan Fair 1975. Later he would occasionally stage reunions between himself and the Texas Playboys. In 1984, some of his earlier solo work was reissued in Columbia's Historic Edition Series. Leon McAuliffe died after a long illness in Tulsa, OK.

Jennifer Lynn Sudar was born on 29 June 1977 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. She died on 26 November 2014 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Charles Ellis was an actor, known for Blood Cult (1985) and Revenge (1986). He died on 9 April 1989 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

Vivi Friedman was born on 20 May 1967 in Helsinki, Finland. She was a director and writer, known for Team Suomi (1994), The Family Tree (2011) and Certainly Not a Fairytale (2003). She died on 2 January 2012 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.