Corsicana

Temple Beth-El is an historic Moorish Revival synagogue located at 208 South 15th Street in Corsicana, Texas. It became a Recorded Texas Historical... Landmark in 1981. On February 3, 1987, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The synagogue was built by a Reform Jewish congregation in 1898-1900. It is a wood frame building, with clapboard siding, keyhole windows in the front doors, and a pair of octagonal towers topped by onion domes. The Jewish community of Corsicana, established in 1871, dwindled in the late twentieth century, spurring the Navarro County Historical Society to take responsibility for the synagogue which, because of its unusual architecture, has been restored and is now in use as a community center.
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David "Fathead" Newman was an American jazz saxophonist. Born in Corsicana, Texas, Newman's professional career as a musician began in 1954 as a... member of the Ray Charles Band. Newman got his nickname in high school music class. Mr. Miller, his then music teacher, saw his music upside down on the stand, and knowing that Newman couldn't read music very well at the time, walked over and tapped him on his head with the conductor's baton and called him "Fathead." The entire classroom laughed and Newman, having good humor, did not find it derogatory. The name stuck with him, but he said he preferred to be called "David." He moved to Dallas where he graduated from Lincoln High School. After high school, he started playing flute and tenor saxophone at local shows. He attended Jarvis Christian College where he studied theology and music. Newman stayed in college for two years and decided to move onto the road to further his music career. He played and toured with Buster Smith, Charlie Parker's mentor, playing many one-nighters with musicians such as T-Bone Walker at dance halls all over the central United States.
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Mary Brian was an American actress and movie star who made the transition from 'silents' to 'talkies'. She was born Louise Byrdie Dantzler in... Corsicana, Texas, the daughter of Taurrence J. Dantzler and Louise B. . Her brother was Taurrence J. Dantzler, Jr. . Her father died when she was one month old and the family later moved to Dallas. In the early 1920s, they moved to Long Beach, California. She had intended becoming an illustrator but that was laid aside when at age 16 she was discovered in a local bathing beauty contest. One of the judges was famous motion picture star Esther Ralston . She didn't win the $25 prize in the contest but Ralston said, "you've got to give the little girl something." So, her prize was to be interviewed by director Herbert Brenon for a role in Peter Pan. Brenon was recovering from eye surgery, and she spoke with him in a dimly lit room.
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Lezlie Deane is an American singer, musician, rollerderby athlete, and actress who has starred in film and made some television appearances. She is... best known for her roles in horror films including 976-EVIL, Girlfriend from Hell , and the hit horror movie Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare in the role of Tracy. Deane was born Leslie Denise Lonon in Corsicana, Texas. She has made guest appearances on such television shows as The Bronx Zoo, 21 Jump Street, Hunter, Freddy's Nightmares, Dynasty, and Pacific Blue. She was once a member of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad. In the 1990s she formed the dance-pop group Fem2fem, and toured Europe as an opening act for Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. Lezlie recorded early demos of songs with musicians Josh Freese, Danny Lohner, and Robyn Finck. Fem2Fem appeared in PLAYBOY magazine in 1993. In 2007, Deane was named Captain of The Slaughterers, one of five roller derby teams under the Dallas Derby Devils. In early 2007, Deane formed the band Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs, a "slampop" group that currently performs in and around Texas.
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Jacqueline Logan was a star of the silent motion picture screen who was on board William Randolph Hearst's yacht The Oneida in 1924 when film... director Thomas Ince died. The young actress was under contract to Ince at the time. Logan was a WAMPAS Baby Star of 1922. She was born in Corsicana, Texas on November 30, 1901. Her father was a noted architect and her mother was briefly an opera singer. Jacqueline traveled to Colorado Springs for her health. While there she took a course in journalism from Ford Frick, who later became commissioner of Major League Baseball. Setting out to Chicago, Logan found employment dancing in a stage production of a theater. Her family believed she intended to visit an uncle in the windy city and also attend college. To get the job she lied about her age, and when her uncle found out, he was irate. She was let go from the stage job as a result. She left Chicago and set out for New York City. Again Jacqueline was untruthful regarding her intentions. With her on her trip to New York was a theatrical troupe. She secured a small role in Floradora, a musical on Broadway in 1920.
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Lefty Frizzell , born William Orville Frizzell, was an American country music singer and songwriter of the 1950s, and a proponent of honky tonk... music. His relaxed style of singing was an influence on later stars Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, George Jones and John Fogerty. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Frizzell was born in Corsicana, Texas, but shortly after his birth he moved with his family to El Dorado in southern Arkansas, where the Frizzells remained until the early 1940s. Frizzell began playing the guitar as a young boy. By age 12, he was appearing regularly on a children's show at local radio station KELD-AM. The family returned to Texas when Frizzell was still a teenager, his music career receiving a significant boost when he won a talent contest in Dallas. Called Sonny by his family, Frizzell got the nickname Lefty at age 14 after a schoolyard scrap, although his record company falsely suggested he had won a Golden Gloves boxing match. In his late teens, Frizzell was performing at fairgrounds and other venues, developing a unique, soulful voice.
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Eddie Hassell is a film actor.