“God
gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.” » J.G.
Holland
Birds were
always a favorite of President Thomas Jefferson, but
none more so than a mockingbird named Dick.
Allowed to roam freely throughout the study, Dick often perched on the armchair
while Jefferson worked at his desk. The two occasionally performed duets and
Dick would pour his little heart out in song to the music of the president’s
violin. While birds were typically the
topic of observations recorded by Jefferson, of two grizzly cubs gifted to him by Capt.
Zebulon Pike, the president explained in
a letter to his granddaughter that the bears had proven “too dangerous and
troublesome to keep, I shall, therefore,
send them to Peale’s Museum.”
While the
jury may still be out on who could, would or should have played the role of Morticia
in the 1991 film, Carolyn Jones – “Sugar, cream or
cyanide?” played the role of the sultry matriarch in 64 episodes of the ‘The Addams Family’ television show, and had a pet African Strangler; a flesh-eating potted plant she called
Aristotle. When not being nearly maimed
by the carnivorous cravings of the plant,
visitors were often running out the front door in fear of “kitty kat”, the
family pet lion who occasionally wandered through the mansion. Though her role in the popular series afforded her a
Golden Globe Award nomination, the career of Carolyn Jones would decline soon
after, as she struggled with life-long effects of asthma and swiftly-spreading
cancer. Her last acting role, in the daytime soap opera Capitol, was often played from her wheelchair
though she managed to finish out one season before she died at the age of 53.
Affectionately
dubbed “Old Hickory”, possibly for beating a would-be assassin near senseless
with his walking stick after the
assailant’s gun misfired at a speaking engagement, in addition to
outfitting the entire White House with spittoons and engaging in duels, it
might stand to reason why president Andrew Jackson’s beloved parrot was famously ejected from his master’s funeral for
cursing!
Did you ever have a pet you just couldn’t keep? Did you
watch the Addams Family TV series? Would you teach your bird to curse?
Hi, dear Diedre!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I am learning from your series is that men or power and prominence often gave, received and owned exotic animals. I never dreamed there were so many types of critters roaming around the White House over the years, including, of all things, another Dick! :)
I always feel sad when I think about Carolyn Jones and how she died young as a result of colon cancer. I watched The Addams Family but thought The Munsters was a lot funnier series. The movies and television revivals of those two series, with different casts, were pale imitations of the originals and failed miserably.
I might have told you that my parents mail ordered a Mexican Double-Yellow Headed parrot when I was 13. (I wanted a dog.) Although we were able to teach our parrot a couple dozen words and phrases (no cursing), we were unable to domesticate him. The bird was ill-tempered, flew at people's heads and faces, bit, drew blood, squawked incessantly, scattered seed, food, water and his "underwear" (down feathers) everywhere. My parents kept him until I went off to college and then donated him to a "bird man" - a pet shop owner with a fondness for birds. Sadly, separation anxiety led our parrot to pine away and pluck out all his feathers and he died withing a year. It was a hard lesson for us all.
Thank you, dear friend Diedre!
Ha! Dear Shady, you are full of zingers - another Dick! Hang in there, my friend. There are only a couple more posts including presidential pets (grin), but you are so right, there are literally loads of stories;-)
DeleteI was heartsick when I learned of Carolyn Jones' demise. She truly had to earn every moment of stardom and did (I thought) quite well at it.
Gads, my heart rate quickened just reading about your parrot! And to think they gave it away right after you left home. Jeez.
That is awful how he died, though. Bless his ill-tempered heart.
Thank you for your comments, dear Shady:-)
That was great...and very informative. I cant say that I've had dangerous pets. I did have a dog once who would come and go as he pleased, often gone for days at a time. He was definitely a free spirit.Enjoy the rest of the A to Z Challenge.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Donna!
DeleteThere are still 16 days left in the challenge - come on back for more if you like:-)
I can't believe you can keep it up with these interesting tidbits of pets of famous people. I'm not surprised in the least of Andrew Jackson's cursing parrot. Imagine, taking a person's parrot to a funeral. Although I had a bird named Tilly that was quite opinionated.
ReplyDeleteHi Anne!
DeleteI thought the same as you about a talking bird at a funeral;-) What did they expect? I doubt the bird knew any hymns:-)
What kind of bird was Tilly?
I would probably try and teach a bird, and myself, to curse in an exotic language no one else around here knew. Maybe Russian. Seems like it would be fun and lend us an air of mystery.
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfectly devious scheme! I've heard that it's easier to teach a bird a new language than it is to teach a person:-)
DeleteThanks for coming by, Jennifer:-)
I loved the Adams Family.
ReplyDeleteMe too, Kelly!
DeleteI didn't know Morticia played in anything else. I wonder if she's in any of these Alfred Hitchcock episodes I've been watching. Seems every actor of the time stopped through there at some point!
ReplyDeleteIndeed she was, Stephanie:-) Carolyn Jones was in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, "The Man Who Knew Too Much". She was also in episodes of Dragnet, Wagon Train, and The Love Boat - just to name a few. She was really busy!
DeleteDon't you just love discovering how actors got their starts? MASH is another show that featured a lot of up-and-comers.
Have a super week, Stephanie!
So sad to hear how a persons health can deteriorate like that. That itself is tragic. I did watch Addams Family. It was such a creepy and kookie show.
ReplyDeleteAgain, the antics of our past presidents. Pet bears.
So true, Jeffrey. One just never knows when their number is going to come up.
DeleteThe Addams family were a lot more kookie than creepy, actually. I thought the same as you at first, then I watched it a couple times and thought differently;-)