Greenwich

The Thomas Lyon House, at 1 Byram Road, was built ca. 1690-95 and is considered to be the oldest unaltered structure in Greenwich, Connecticut. The... restoration of the house, a Colonial saltbox, is the primary project of the Greenwich Preservation Trust, a not-for-profit organization that grew out of the Thomas Lyon House Committee formed by the Byram Neighborhood Association. Its heritage dates back to the family of Thomas Lyon , one of the earliest settlers of Fairfield County, and particularly his son, Thomas Lyon who, with his wife Abigail and their children, were the initial occupants. The house stayed in the family line of Abigail and Thomas Lyon in to the 20th Century. The first Thomas Lyon was born in England about 1621. He is reported to have come first to the Massachusetts Colony, and thence to have gone to seek his fortune in the 'far west' of Fairfield County, CT. His first wife was Martha Johanna Winthrop, the only child of Elizabeth Fones Winthrop and her husband Henry Winthrop, second son of Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
more

The Greenwich Senior Center also known as the old Greenwich Town Hall is located in the business district of Greenwich, Connecticut. The old Town... Hall building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 21, 1987. The building is a Beaux Arts design by Mowbray and Uffinger, and was built in 1905 by Robert M. Bruce to serve as the Town Hall of Greenwich. The building is shaped like a vertical cube and has three stories, rusticated at the first story. The roof rises above a copper cornice and has a clock built below a domed cupola. In 1977, the town government offices were moved to a building that was formerly used by the Greenwich High School at Field Point Road. The building is now used as a senior center.
more

The Mianus River Railroad Bridge, also known as the Cos Cob Bridge, is a bascule bridge built in 1904 over the Mianus River, in Greenwich,... Connecticut. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. It is operated by the Metro-North Railroad, successor to Conrail, Penn Central, and the New Haven Railroad, which erected it, and is owned by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. It is a rolling lift type moveable bridge. It was prefabricated by the American Bridge Company, to replace a previous bridge on the site which was unsafe. The nearby Cos Cob Railroad Station is also NRHP-listed. It is one of eight moveable bridges on the Amtrak route through Connecticut surveyed in one multiple property study in 1986.
more

Putnam Cottage also known as Knapp Tavern during the American Revolution . It is located on the Boston Post Road, or Route One, in Greenwich,... Connecticut. Putnam's cottage was built by the Knapp family. The house was expanded by 1750 to become a tavern, serving travelers and troops during the American Revolution. In 1776, General George Washington stopped and fed his troops there as evidenced by his expense report on file with the Smithsonian Institution. The name of Revolutionary War General Israel Putnam became associated with the house as it was the scene of his daring and historic ride down a steep slope, now known as Put's Hill, with the redcoats in hot pursuit. This historic scene is depicted in the seal of the Town of Greenwich and the name of Putnam is found throughout the State of Connecticut. In the early 20th century, the house was purchased by the Israel Putnam House Association, Inc. Since 1910, the property has been the Historic Preservation Project of the Putnam Hill Chapter DAR Daughters of the American Revolution. The house had been "modernized" in the 19th century with features such as plaster ceilings, Victorian trim and a front porch.
more

James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer, best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television... programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for projects like Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. He was also an Oscar-nominated film director, Emmy Award-winning television producer, and the founder of The Jim Henson Company, the Jim Henson Foundation, and Jim Henson's Creature Shop. He died on May 16, 1990 of organ failure resulting from a Group A streptococcal infection caused by Streptococcus pyogenes. Henson, who was born in Greenville, Mississippi and educated at University of Maryland, College Park, is one of the most widely known puppeteers ever. He created Sam and Friends as a freshman in College Park. After suffering struggles with programs that he created, he eventually was selected to participate in Sesame Street. During this time, he also contributed to Saturday Night Live. The success of Sesame Street spawned The Muppet Show, which featured Muppets created by Henson.
more

Pedro Jaime Martínez is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He is an eight-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner, and 2004 World... Series champion. At the time of his 200th win in April 2006, Martínez had the highest winning percentage of any 200-game winner in modern baseball history . His ERA+ is the highest of any starting pitcher in MLB history. Officially listed at 5 ft 11 in and 195 pounds , Martínez was unusually small for a modern-day power pitcher, and he is believed to be somewhat smaller than his officially listed height and weight. Martínez's pitching style was atypical as he commanded an arsenal of "out" pitches. His fastball, cutter, curveball and circle changeup were all well above average; combined with his historically excellent control, they proved to be an overpowering package. Martínez threw from a low three-quarter position that hid the ball very well from batters, who have remarked on the difficulty of picking up Martínez's delivery. Early in his career, Martínez's fastball was consistently clocked in the 95–97 mph range.
more

Glenn Close is an American film, television and stage actress. She is best known for her roles as a femme fatale—the scheming Marquise de... Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons and deranged stalker Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction —as well as Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians , and its sequel 102 Dalmatians . She has been more recently known for her Emmy and Golden Globe winning role as Patty Hewes in the FX TV series Damages. Consistently acclaimed for her versatility, she has been nominated six times for an Oscar , three times for a Grammy Award and once for a BAFTA Film Award, and has won three Tonys, an Obie, three Emmys, two Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Close was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the daughter of Bettine and William Taliaferro Close, a doctor who operated a clinic in the Belgian Congo and served as a personal physician to Congo/Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko. Her parents came from prominent families.
more

Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American film director, producer and former child actor. He came to prominence playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom... The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years. He appeared in the films American Graffiti in 1973 and The Shootist in 1976, the latter during his run on Happy Days. Howard made his directorial debut with the 1977 comedy Grand Theft Auto, and left Happy Days in 1980 to focus on directing. His films include the Academy Award-winning Cocoon, Apollo 13, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Beautiful Mind. In 2003, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Asteroid 12561 Howard is named after him. Howard was born in Duncan, Oklahoma, the son of Jean Speegle Howard, an actress, and Rance Howard, a director, writer and actor. His father was born with the surname "Beckenholdt", and had taken the stage name "Howard" by 1948, for his acting career. Rance Howard was serving three years in the United States Air Force at the time of Ron's birth. The family moved to Hollywood in 1958, the year before the birth of his younger brother, Clint Howard.
more

Jack Harold Paar was an author, American radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known for his stint as host of The Tonight Show from... 1957 to 1962. Time magazine's obituary noted that: "His fans would remember him as the fellow who split talk show history into two eras: Before Paar and Below Paar." Paar was born in Canton, Ohio, the son of Howard and Lillian M. Paar. He moved with his family to Jackson, Michigan, 30 miles south of Lansing, as a child. As a child he had a stuttering problem which he conquered. He contracted tuberculosis when he was 14, and left school at 16. He first worked near home as a radio announcer at WIBM in Jackson and later as a humorous disc jockey at Midwest stations, including WJR in Detroit, WIRE in Indianapolis, WGAR in Cleveland and WBEN in Buffalo. In his book P.S. Jack Paar, he recalled doing utility duty at WGAR in 1938 when Orson Welles broadcast his famous simulated alien invasion, The War of the Worlds over the CBS network . Attempting to calm possible panicked listeners, Paar announced, "The world is not coming to an end. Trust me.
more

Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, he became a United States citizen in 1992. He was one... of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Lendl captured eight Grand Slam singles titles. He competed in 19 Grand Slam singles finals, record surpassed by Roger Federer in 2009. He reached at least one Grand Slam final for 11 consecutive years, a record shared with Pete Sampras, with the male primacy of 8 consecutive finals in a slam tournament . Before the formation of the ATP Lendl reached a record 12 year-end championships . He won two WCT Finals titles and five Masters Grand Prix titles, with the record of 9 consecutive finals. He also won a record 22 Championship Series titles the precursors to the current ATP Masters 1000. Lendl first attained the world no. 1 ranking on February 28, 1983 and bolstered his claim to the top spot when he defeated John McEnroe in the 1984 French Open final.
more

Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend , is an American attorney who was the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Maryland from 1995 to 2003. She ran... unsuccessfully for Governor of Maryland in 2002. In 2010 she became the chair of the non-profit American Bridge, an organization that will raise funds for Democratic candidates and causes. She is a member of the Kennedy family. Townsend was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the eldest of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy's 11 children, and the eldest grandchild of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. She was named for her aunt Kathleen Kennedy Cavendish. It was not assumed that the girls in the politically-oriented Kennedy family would run for office or become public persons, while she was growing up. However, after her uncle President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, her father wrote her saying, "As the oldest of the next generation you have a particular responsibility. Be kind to others and work for your country." Her family gave her the nicknames "Clean Kathleen", "the Nun", and "the Un-Kennedy".
more

Christopher James "Chris" Berman , also known by the nickname Boomer, is an American sportscaster. He anchors SportsCenter, Monday Night Countdown,... Sunday NFL Countdown, U.S. Open golf, the Stanley Cup Finals, and other programming on ESPN and ABC Sports. Berman was born in Greenwich, Connecticut and raised in Irvington, New York. He is Jewish on his father's side. During his childhood he went to Camp Winnebago in Fayette, Maine. In 1970, he attended the Hackley School and Brown University from which he graduated in 1977 with a degree in history. Berman moved to WNVR in Waterbury, Connecticut. He was eventually hired at Hartford's WVIT-TV to do weekend sports at $23 per shift. He joined ESPN in 1979 a month after its founding and has been with the network since. Along with Bob Ley, he is one of ESPN's longest-tenured employees. Berman, who is generally known to be heavy-set, often jokes that he now uses his original ESPN jacket from 1979 when he was much skinnier. He is the host of Monday Night Countdown, replacing previous host Stuart Scott.
more

Bijou Lilly Phillips is an American actress, model, and singer. Phillips began her career as a model but soon transitioned herself into acting and... singing. When she was 13, she started as a model and became one of the youngest people to grace the cover of Interview Magazine and Italian Vogue. Bijou also appeared in several ads for Calvin Klein. She made her musical debut with her album I'd Rather Eat Glass in 1999. She has appeared in films such as Black and White , Almost Famous , Bully , Octane , The Door in the Floor , Venom , Hostel: Part II , and Choke . Named after the song "My Petite Bijou" by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross , Phillips was born in Greenwich, Fairfield County, Connecticut, and is the daughter of John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas and his then-wife Geneviève Waïte, a South African model, artist, and actress. The youngest of John Phillips's children, she has one brother, Tamerlane, and three half-siblings: Mackenzie, Jeffrey, and Chynna.
more

Shelley Marie Hack is an American model, actress, producer, and political & media advisor. Hack is best remembered for her role as Tiffany... Welles in the fourth season of the ABC Television Drama Charlie's Angels ; replacing the departing Kate Jackson. Hack appeared in a total of 25 episodes of the series, before being replaced in season five by model-actress, Tanya Roberts. Hack was born in White Plains, New York and raised in nearby Greenwich, Connecticut. She graduated from Greenwich Academy and Smith College, the latter with a history degree. She began her career as a teen fashion model and became the face of Revlon's Charlie perfume in the mid 1970s. Her feature film debut was in Woody Allen's award winning film Annie Hall , as "Street Stranger." She is perhaps best known for her role as Tiffany Welles in the television series Charlie's Angels for one season . Unfortunately, the series experienced a significant ratings decline during Hack's time on the show, and the actress was dismissed in early 1980.
more

Tom Noonan is an American actor and film writer-director. Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen and Tom Noonan, who worked... as a dentist and jazz musician respectively. He has an older brother, John Ford Noonan, a playwright, and two sisters, Rosemary and Caroline. Noonan started working in theatre , but in the 1980s he began working in film. At 6 feet, 7 inches , Noonan's imposing presence is probably responsible for his tendency to be cast as menacing villains, as in RoboCop 2, Last Action Hero, Manhunter and The Pledge. His height was used for comic effect in "The Moving Finger," the series finale of the horror anthology Monsters . In 1986, Noonan played Francis Dolarhyde, a serial killer who kills entire families, in Manhunter, the first movie to feature Hannibal Lecter. To date, it is his most recognizable leading role. His biggest supporting role was in 1995, as Kelso in Heat. He also played Frankenstein in The Monster Squad.
more

Peter Gasparino is an American former professional wrestler, better known simply as Pete Gas from his appearances with the World Wrestling... Federation. In 1999, he was hired by the World Wrestling Federation along with his friend Rodney Leinhardt. Gasparino and Leinhardt were both childhood friends of Shane McMahon, the son of WWF/WWE owner Vince McMahon. They were placed in a faction together along with independent wrestler Joey Abs. The trio debuted on WWF television in March 1999 as the "Mean Street Posse" , and began assisting Shane in his feud with Test and helping him retain the European Championship. Shane eventually turned into a fan favorite and briefly feuded with his erstwhile allies before leaving WWF television. The Posse took part in a tag team battle royal for the number one contenderships to the Tag Team Championship at Armageddon. They gained an advantage by switching places with the third wrestler behind the referees' backs, thus enabling them to outnumber the other teams three to two. Despite this advantage, they failed to win.
more