Valley of Life | Online Memorial Blog

Legendary Russian Ballerina, Olga Lepeshinskaya has passed away. The four time Stalin prize winner died in her sleep at the age of 92.  Lepeshinskaya was a legend in the dancing world who performed for over 30 years with the Bolshoi Ballet. She played in the highest profile roles available to a prima ballerina, including The Barber of Seville, Sleeping Beauty and La Fille Mal Gardee.  In 1941 she received the Stalin Prize for her performance in the classical Russian ballet Don Quixote . After retiring from the stage, she became a teacher in Moscow, Rome, Vienna and Munich.

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The man credited with coining the phrase “moral majority” passed away on Thursday, December 18, 2008. Paul Weyrich was an active conservative who helped turn social conservatives into a major player within the Republican party.  He was an educated man who helped develop modern conservatism as it is thought of today.  Weyrich was just 66 years old.

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Strange how life times certain occurrences.  As the movie Frost / Nixon revisits the Watergate Scandal and Former President Nixon’s involvement, one of the key players in that story passes away.  Former FBI second-in-command Mark Felt, died on Thursday, December 18, 2008.  Felt, who identified himself as ‘Deep Throat‘ 30 years after the Watergate scandal,  tipped off reporters to the Watergate scandal during the Nixon Administration. Felt insisted his identity be kept a secret when he provided information about President Nixon and his aides to the Washington Post. It was his tips that ultimately led to the widespread news of the Watergate break-ins and ultimately the resignation of Nixon in 1974.

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Hollywood actor, Sam Bottoms, best know for his role in Apocalypse Now as the surfer-turned-soldier Lance B. Johnson, died on Tuesday, December 16, 2008 of brain cancer.  He was just 53 years old.  Bottoms is one of four acting brothers who came onto the Hollywood scene in 1971, when he was just 15 years old, starring alongside his brother Timothy in The Last Picture Show.  In 1979, he appeared in the Francis Ford Coppola film Apocalypse Now, the role he is arguably best known for. Recently he appeared in Seabiscuit and Shopgirl. (IMDB listing of Sam’s Work)

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The wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, passed away on Thursday, December 18, 2008 at the age of 76.  An actress herself, she was very active in the franchise throughout her career.  She was also instrumental in keeping her husband’s science fiction legacy alive on the small screen after he passed away.  Mrs. Roddenberry died of leukemia at her Bel-Air home.

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