history - News.com.au
Transcription
history - News.com.au
HISTORY Birthdays JUNE BRONHILL Born June Mary Gough in Broken Hill, NSW, in 1929, the Australian opera singer and actress changed her name in honour of her home town. TV credits include Are You Being Served? and Melba. She died in 2005. HELEN MIRREN Born Ilyena Mironof in Chiswick, England, in 1945. Her love of Shakespeare led her to an acting career. She became a dame in 2003 and won a best actress Oscar for her title role in The Queen (2006). CHRIS ISAAK Musician, born in California in 1956. He released his first album Silvertone in 1984, and is best known for songs Wicked Game and Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing, both of which have been used in film soundtracks. JASON SCHWARTZMAN Born in LA in 1980, the musician/actor came from a film family — his uncle is director Francis Ford Coppola, his mother an actress and father a producer. He has appeared in The Darjeeling Limited and Marie Antoinette. On this day III begins his 1483 Richard reign after taking power from his nephew, Edward V. The first grand prix motor race begins. It lasts for two days outside the French city of Le Mans. The charter creating the United Nations is signed in San Francisco by delegates of 50 nations. Australian politician Dr H.V. ‘‘Bert’’ Evatt helped draw it up. A Skymaster DC4 plane on an ANA flight from Perth to Adelaide crashes in Western Australia, killing 29. 1906 1945 1950 1963 US president John F. Kennedy inspires West Germans with his ‘‘Ich bin ein Berliner’’ speech. It was seen as a turning point in the Cold War. Presley gives his 1977 Elvis last live performance, in Indianapolis — two months before his death. Ali 1979 Muhammad announces his retirement from boxing after almost 20 years in the sport. design by Australian 1980 Aarchitect Richard Thorp is announced as winner of the competition for a new Parliament House in Canberra. 2003 Sir Denis Thatcher dies aged 88. He was married to former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The Socceroos are knocked out of the Football World Cup in Germany. 2006 Proud as punch . . . Laila Ali (left), daughter of Muhammad Ali, takes on Joe Frazier’s daughter Jacqui in 2001, and (inset) their fathers in 1975 Success in sport is often relative Inherent sporting talent can often be passed on, writes TROY LENNON enetic inheritance can mean a lot when it comes to being a sports star. Many sporting figures have given birth to similarly talented progeny. Mitchell Pearce, son of league great Wayne Pearce, has shown that he has what it takes to follow in his dad’s footsteps, being selected to play for the NSW State of Origin team. Sometimes the sons, daughters, nieces, nephews and even grandchildren of famous sports stars have failed to reach the same heights as their forebears, but in other cases they have rivalled or even bettered those achievements. Recently rugby league seems to be populated with the relatives and sons of former players. Parramatta player Eric Grothe was rookie of the year in 1978. He went on to be part of the premiership-winning Eels team in 1981, ’82 and ’83 and played for NSW and Australia. He retired in 1990. His son Eric junior, born in 1980, began his professional career with the Eels in 1999 and has also represented his country. It is not only sons. Reg Gasnier, who played for St George in the late 1950s and ’60s, was one of the game’s brightest stars. Born in 1939 he almost first chose cricket before joining the Dragons. Injuries forced him to retire in 1967. Gasnier’s nephew Mark Gasnier is now the captain of St George and has also played for NSW and Australia. One league player’s son has opted for a different sport. League player Garry Jack, who played for Wests, Balmain, NSW and Australia in the ’80s and ’90s, had a son Keiren in 1987 who is now playing Australian rules with the Sydney Swans. Similarly, French tennis star Yannick Noah, winner of the French Open in 1983, was the son of Cameroonian footballer Zacharie Noah who played professionally in the 1960s. In turn, Yannick’s son Joakim is a basketballer with the Chicago Bulls. The union of basketballers Gary Jackson and Maree Bennie, both of G Family affair . . . (from left) cricketing brothers Trevor, Ian and Greg Chappell; Eric Grothe Sr, and Jr whom represented Australia, produced a new star. Their daughter Lauren, born in 1981, had the right genes and was raised in a culture of basketball. Lauren went to the Australian Institute of Sport where she captained their team and in 1997 she was selected for the Australian national women’s team, the Opals, and is now captain. She joined the Seattle Storm in 2001. Motor racing also seems to have many competitors who build on family genes. The American Unser clan produced many champions. Louis Unser, born in 1896, was the nine-times winner of the famous Pikes Peak Hill Climb, a mad dash up a Colorado mountain. His brothers Joe and Jerry were also racers, but it was Jerry’s son Al, born in 1939, who would make the Unser name famous internationally. Al’s older brother Jerry Jr became the first member of the family to drive in the race for which the clan has become best known — the Indianapolis 500 — but was killed in a practice session in 1959. Al raced in his first Indy in 1965. By then, brother Bobby was making his name in the race, winning his first in 1968. Al won in 1970 and again in ’71. Bobby would win the race three times and Al four times. Bobby retired in 1982 and Al in 1994. Al’s son Al Jr (1962-), won his first Indy 500 in 1992, while his father came third in the same race. He won again in 1994, the year his dad retired. Al Jr retired in 2004 but made a comeback to Indy and later Formula One. His son Al Unser III now drives on the Indy circuit. Australia’s Jack Brabham has also produced a crop of racers. Born in Hurstville in 1926, Brabham is a three-time Formula One World Champion who retired from racing in 1970. His son Geoff, born in 1952, went on to race in many different fields of the sport, including a win at the Le Mans 24-hour sports car race. He was inducted into the American Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2004. Geoff’s brothers Gary (1961-) and David (1965-) have also made careers in racing. The self-proclaimed ‘‘greatest’’ boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali, Olympic gold medallist and threetime heavyweight champion, also produced an heir. But most people thought it unlikely his daughter EVERY TUESDAY Series 8 www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/classmate ACTIVITY: Write about another famous child of a sporting star. WEBSITE: Honour Thy Father www.sptimes.com/2007/06/17/Sports/ Honoring thy father.shtml — a list of some famous American sporting parents and their children. BOOK: Raising Champions by Philippa Coates, $29.95, Hachette Livre. A look at how parents of elite athletes raise their children. 68—THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, www.dailytelegraph.com.au Thursday, June 26, 2008—68 Laila, born in 1977, would follow in his footsteps. She gained a business degree before taking up professional boxing. She made her debut in 1999, winning by a knock-out. In 2001, she squared off against Jackie Frazier-Lyde, the daughter of one of Muhammad Ali’s most famous opponents, Joe Frazier. Ali, 22, beat the 39-year-old Frazier-Lyde on points after eight rounds. She later became female world super middleweight boxing champion. Cricket has also produced some families who have made their mark on the sport. English cricketer William ‘‘W.G.’’ Grace (1848-1915) was one of the giants of the sport in the late 19th century. A formidable batsman, he was part of a cricketing clan. His father was a cricketer as were his brothers, several cousins and his son. W.G.’s older brother Edward (1841-1911) was carving an impressive career before he was overshadowed by his younger sibling. His other younger brother George (1850-1880) struggled to match the form of his brothers and died at the age of 30. William’s sons William Gilbert Jr (1874-1905) and Charles (1882-1938) both went on to have brief careers in the sport. Australian cricketer Vic Richardson (1894-1969) similarly passed on cricketing genes. He made his Test debut in 1924, competing in the famous Bodyline series against the English in 1932-33. His daughter Jeanne married grade cricketer Martin Chappell and they had three sons: Ian (born 1943), Greg (1948-) and Trevor (1952-) who all went on to play Test cricket — encouraged by a doting grandad.