Saginaw

Isham Jones was a United States bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter. Jones was born in Coalton, Ohio, to a musical and mining family,... and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, where he started his first band. In 1911 one of Jones' earliest compositions "On The Alamo" was published by Tell Taylor Inc. In 1915 Isham Jones moved to Chicago, Illinois, which remained his home base until 1932, when he reestablished himself in New York City. Jones also toured England with his orchestra in 1925. The Isham Jones band made a series of popular gramophone records for Brunswick throughout the 1920s. He led one of the most popular dance bands in the 1920s and 1930s. His first successful recording, Wabash Blues written by Dave Ringle and Fred Meinken, was recorded in 1921 by Isham Jones and his Orchestra. This million-seller stayed twelve weeks in the U.S. charts, six at No. 1.
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Edward "Sonny" Stitt , was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was one of the most well-documented saxophonists of his... generation, recording over 100 albums. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern, in reference to his relentless touring and devotion to jazz. Edward Boatner was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. He had a musical background; his father, Edward Boatner, was a baritone singer, composer and college music professor, his brother was a classically trained pianist, and his mother was a piano teacher. Boatner was soon adopted by another family, the Stitts, who gave him his new surname. He later began calling himself "Sonny". In 1943, Stitt first met Charlie Parker, and as he often later recalled, the two men found that their styles had an extraordinary similarity that was partly coincidental and not merely due to Stitt's emulation. Stitt's improvisations were more melodic/less dissonant than those of Parker. Stitt's earliest recordings were made in 1945 with Stan Getz and Dizzy Gillespie.
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S. Epatha Merkerson is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has won a Golden Globe, Emmy Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Obie... Award and four NAACP Image Awards. She has also received two Tony Award nominations. She is best known for her role as NYPD Lieutenant Anita Van Buren from 1993 to 2010 on the long-running NBC police procedural drama series, Law & Order. She appeared in 391 episodes of the series—more than any other cast member. Merkerson, the youngest of five children, was born in Saginaw, Michigan, the daughter of Ann Merkerson, who at the time was the only female in the vehicles operation unit at the Detroit Post Office. Her father worked in a factory. Merkerson's parents separated in 1957. Merkerson is often reticent about revealing what her first name really was . On the June 11, 2005 episode of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me!, she jokingly claimed that the initial "S," "stands for 'Sweet' [because] so many people have difficulty with Epatha, which is what I prefer to be called". She has legally changed her first name to S.
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Col. Tim McCoy was an American actor, military officer, and expert on American Indian life and customs. Born the son of an Irish Union Civil War... soldier who later became police chief in Saginaw, he became a major film star most noted for his roles in Western films. He was so popular with youngsters as a cowboy star that he appeared on the cover of Wheaties cereal boxes. He attended St. Ignatius College in Chicago and after seeing a wild west show there, left school and found work on a Wyoming ranch. He became an expert horseman and roper and developed a knowledge of the ways and languages of the Native American tribes in the area. He competed in numerous rodeos, then enlisted in the United States Army when America entered World War I. McCoy was a decorated soldier in the United States Army during World War I and again in World War II in Europe, rising to the rank of Colonel with the Army Air Corps and Army Air Forces. He also served the state of Wyoming as its Adjutant General between the wars with the brevet rank of Brigadier General.
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Monty Brown is an American professional wrestler and former National Football League linebacker, also known as Marcus Cor Von. He is best known for... his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment, where he wrestled on its ECW brand under the ring name Marcus Cor Von. In both companies, he utilized the nickname "The Alpha Male". Brown has also wrestled for a number of independent promotions, including Blood, Sweat and Ears, Juggalo Championship Wrestling and the Universal Wrestling Alliance. Brown attended Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, where he was an All-American American football linebacker, breaking and setting several defensive records. Talent spotters recruited him to the Buffalo Bills, and he played football professionally for five years, competing in Super Bowl XXVIII for the Bills in 1994. On April 17, 1996, Brown signed with the New England Patriots as a restricted free agent, and Brown immediately became a starter as the right outside linebacker. In just two games for the Patriots, Brown made 23 tackles.
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Stephen Andrew Lynch , is an American stand-up comedian, musician and Tony Award-nominated actor who is known for his songs mocking daily life and... popular culture. Lynch has released two studio albums and two live albums along with a live DVD. He has appeared in two Comedy Central Presents specials and starred in the Broadway adaptation of The Wedding Singer. Lynch was born in Abington, Pennsylvania. His family later moved to Saginaw, Michigan. Lynch would perform in community theatre and musical theatre while attending Arthur Hill High School and The Center for Arts and Sciences. He stayed in Michigan until he graduated from Western Michigan University with a B.A. in drama in 1993. At Western Michigan University, he began to write comedic songs. Considering himself a musician first and a comedian second, Lynch cites singer/songwriters Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell as his childhood inspirations, rather than comics. He was inspired to go into show business after seeing the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap. The first song that he wrote was a country song titled "Beefy Burrito".
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Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1... in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on November 2, 2009. She is the only female player to have won over $35 million in prize money. Her 27 Grand Slam titles places her ninth on the all-time list: 13 in singles, 12 in women's doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. She is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously and only the fifth woman in history to do so. She was also the first woman, along with sister Venus Williams, to hold all four Grand Slam doubles titles simultaneously since Martina Hingis did so in 1998. Her 13 Grand Slam singles titles is sixth on the all-time list. Williams ranks fourth in Grand Slam women's singles titles won during the open era, behind Steffi Graf and Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova .
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S. Epatha Merkerson is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has won a Golden Globe, Emmy Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Obie... Award and four NAACP Image Awards. She has also received two Tony Award nominations. She is best known for her role as NYPD Lieutenant Anita Van Buren from 1993 to 2010 on the long-running NBC police procedural drama series, Law & Order. She appeared in 391 episodes of the series—more than any other cast member. Merkerson, the youngest of five children, was born in Saginaw, Michigan, the daughter of Ann Merkerson, who at the time was the only female in the vehicles operation unit at the Detroit Post Office. Her father worked in a factory. Merkerson's parents separated in 1957. Merkerson is often reticent about revealing what her first name really was . On the June 11, 2005 episode of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me!, she jokingly claimed that the initial "S," "stands for 'Sweet' [because] so many people have difficulty with Epatha, which is what I prefer to be called". She has legally changed her first name to S.
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Col. Tim McCoy was an American actor, military officer, and expert on American Indian life and customs. Born the son of an Irish Union Civil War... soldier who later became police chief in Saginaw, he became a major film star most noted for his roles in Western films. He was so popular with youngsters as a cowboy star that he appeared on the cover of Wheaties cereal boxes. He attended St. Ignatius College in Chicago and after seeing a wild west show there, left school and found work on a Wyoming ranch. He became an expert horseman and roper and developed a knowledge of the ways and languages of the Native American tribes in the area. He competed in numerous rodeos, then enlisted in the United States Army when America entered World War I. McCoy was a decorated soldier in the United States Army during World War I and again in World War II in Europe, rising to the rank of Colonel with the Army Air Corps and Army Air Forces. He also served the state of Wyoming as its Adjutant General between the wars with the brevet rank of Brigadier General.
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Monty Brown is an American professional wrestler and former National Football League linebacker, also known as Marcus Cor Von. He is best known for... his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment, where he wrestled on its ECW brand under the ring name Marcus Cor Von. In both companies, he utilized the nickname "The Alpha Male". Brown has also wrestled for a number of independent promotions, including Blood, Sweat and Ears, Juggalo Championship Wrestling and the Universal Wrestling Alliance. Brown attended Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, where he was an All-American American football linebacker, breaking and setting several defensive records. Talent spotters recruited him to the Buffalo Bills, and he played football professionally for five years, competing in Super Bowl XXVIII for the Bills in 1994. On April 17, 1996, Brown signed with the New England Patriots as a restricted free agent, and Brown immediately became a starter as the right outside linebacker. In just two games for the Patriots, Brown made 23 tackles.
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Robert Armstrong was an American film actor best remembered for his role as Carl Denham in the 1933 version of King Kong by RKO Pictures. He uttered... the famous exit quote, "'Twas beauty killed the beast," at the film's end. Months later, he starred as Carl Denham again in the sequel, Son of Kong, released the same year. In the late 1950s, Armstrong appeared as Sheriff Andy Anderson on Rod Cameron's syndicated western-themed television series, State Trooper. Born in Saginaw, Michigan, he studied to be a lawyer but gave it up to manage his uncle's touring companies. He attended the University of Washington where he became a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity. In his spare time he wrote plays which eventually led to his appearance in one of them. He served in WWI and found his uncle had died when he came back home. Armstrong went to London and in 1926 appeared on the stage for a season. In 1928, his screen career started when he appeared in Pathé's The Main Event. Armstrong resembled King Kong producer and adventurer Merian C. Cooper and Cooper used him in several films as more or less a version of himself.
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Anthony Ray Parker is an American actor. Parker was born in Saginaw, Michigan, USA, and currently resides in Los Angeles, California. For years... during the late 1990s and early 2000s, Parker settled in New Zealand and had a prominent career on television in various shows as Suzanne Paul's sidekick. He appeared in the film "The Matrix" as the character Dozer. In 2006, Parker starred in John Cena's film The Marine. He will also appear in the horror film Dead Air. He has filmed a number of television shows and movies in Australia and New Zealand. Anthony Ray Parker has a daughter and two sons, all of whom currently reside in New Zealand. In 2007 he performed the role of Buddy McDeere, the Head coach of the Russian boxer, Anton Kolchin in the Russian Movie "Shadow Boxing 2".
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