FORSYTH NOTES April 15, 2010
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FORSYTH NOTES April 15, 2010 Welcome to the two hundred thirteenth issue of Forsyth Notes. Forsyth Notes is published bi-monthly by Clan Forsyth Society of the USA, and is your e-link to your extended Forsyth family. Click here for back issues of Forsyth Notes in PDF format. A Wee Bit of Scottish Humor One winter morning a Glasgow couple was listening to the radio over breakfast. They hear the announcer say, "We are going to have 8 to 10 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the even-numbered side of the street, so the snow plows can get through." Norman's wife goes out and moves her car. A week later while they are eating breakfast again, the radio announcer says, "We are expecting 10 to 12 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the odd-numbered side of the street, so the snow plows can get through." Norman's wife goes out and moves her car again. The next week they are again having breakfast, when the radio announcer says "We are expecting 12 To 14 inches of snow today. You must park............" Then the electric power goes out. Norman's wife is very upset, and with a worried look on her face she says, "Honey, I don't know what to do. Which side of the street do I need to park on so the snow plows can get through?" With the love and understanding in his voice that all men who are married exhibit, Norman says.......... “Why don't you just leave it in the garage this time?” Flowers of the Forest John Forsythe – Death of An Icon John Forsythe , the debonair actor whose matinee-idol looks, confident charm and mellifluous voice helped make him the star of three hit television series, died on Thursday, April 1, 2010, at the age of 92, at his home in Santa Ynez, Calif. John Forsythe (1918 – 2010), was born John Lincoln Freund, on January 29, 1918, in Penns Grove, New Jersey. He was the eldest son of Sam and Blanche Freund. He was raised in Brooklyn, New York where his father worked as a stockbroker businessman at Wall Street. At the age of sixteen, John Forsythe graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn and began at the University of North Carolina. At the age of nineteen in 1936, John got a job as the announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers. John became an actor at his father’s request. In this process, he met a beautiful young actress named Parker McCormick (December 1918 – July 1980). The couple got married in 1939 and had a son named Dall, (born 1943), but John and Parker soon divorced. John changed his name to Forsythe after people kept mispronouncing his original last name. He took on the name of Forsythe from his mother’s side of his family. From that time on, he was billed as John Forsythe. He appeared in regional plays before making his Broadway debut as Private Cootes in Vickie (1942). The following year, he moved to Hollywood, where he landed supporting roles in the action features Northern Pursuit and Destination Tokyo . While struggling to find suitable film parts, John studied at the famed Actors Studio, graduating with the school's first commencement class in 1947. In 1950, John’s big break came when he replaced Henry Fonda on Broadway in the title role of Mister Roberts . He continued to make his mark as an actor in such films as Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry (1955) and the romantic drama The Ambassador’s Daughter (1956). John became nationally known in the late 1950s as the playboy lawyer, Bentley Gregg, in the acclaimed TV series Bachelor Father (1957). After six successful seasons, the series was cancelled in 1962, at which time he concentrated on film projects. He headlined the campy drama Kitten with a Whip (1964) with Ann-Margret, as well as the highly anticipated film adaptation of Truman Capote's book In Cold Blood (1967). In 1969, he reunited with Hitchcock in the spy film Topaz . During the early 1970s, John was featured in a succession of mediocre made-for-TV movies, including Murder Once Removed (1971) and Terror on the 40th Floor (1974). In 1976, producer Aaron Spelling cast him as the voice of Charlie Townsend in the widely popular TV series Charlie’s Angels , which starred Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Ladd, and Jaclyn Smith. While working on Charlie’s Angels , he continued to appear in television movies, including The Feather and Father Gang (1977), With This Ring (1978), and . And Justice For All (1979). Under the recommendation of Spelling, John landed the part of debonair businessman Blake Carrington in the long-running primetime drama Dynasty (1981-89). Throughout the 1980s, Dynasty --as well as John’s patriarchal character-- became a significant icon with the American public. He won back-to-back Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Television Series in 1982 and 1983. In 1985, he became a spokesperson for the successful men's cologne line Carrington. Most recently, John Forsythe reprised his role as the enigmatic Charlie in the feature film Charlie's Angels (2000), which starred Drew Barrymore, Lucy Lui, and Cameron Diaz. John married actress Julie Warren in 1943. The couple had two daughters before Warren’s death in 1994. In 2002, at age 84, he married businesswoman Nicole Carter in a small, private ceremony. Rosslyn Chapel – the 12 great mysteries From Scotland TV.com Many of us have enjoyed Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons . The famous chapel – star of the Da Vinci Code – has revealed yet another secret, but no more answers. Riddles in stone: What does the chapel hide? Rosslyn Chapel has presented another mystery as builders discovered a 600-year-old bee hive built into the stones. The 15th Century Midlothian chapel is undergoing a £13million preservation exercise at the moment. The hive said to be "unprecedented" was found during dismantling of a rooftop pinnacle. The bees entered the hive through a hole in a carved flower crafted by the chapel's master stone masons. Malcolm Mitchell, of Page Park Architects, said: "What you find at Rosslyn is there are so many irregularities and nuances in the stone work and it's as if the stone masons are teasing us from the past. "These hives were never intended to be a source of honey." No one really knows why the chapel had built-in bee hives but the insects have been sacred going back to Egyptian times. MORE THAN JUST A CHURCH • Bones discovery another puzzle • VIDEO Virtual tour of the chapel • The magic powers of honey Rosslyn Chapel, just outside Edinburgh, has been a holy place for centuries. Its name means either “point of a waterfall” or “ancient knowledge down the line” depending on who you ask. Other mysteries of the chapel include: Is Rosslyn Chapel the resting place of the Holy Grail? Dan Brown’s book Da Vinci Code suggests that the ultimate of all holy icons is hidden in the church. The Holy Grail was possibly one of the things carried by the Knights Templar when they fled France for Scotland. Was Rosslyn the final resting place for a hunted order of medieval warrior monks? Work on the chapel began in 1446 and was overseen by Sir William St. Clair, the third and last St Clair Prince of Orkney. An account written in 1700 refers to various builders and masons as coming from "other regions" and "foreign kingdoms", with France as a good bet. Contrary to popular belief Sir William was neither a Knight Templar nor Freemason. The Chapel was built more than 100 years after the official dissolution of the Templar order and more than 200 years before the beginnings of Freemasonry. There is no proven link between St Clair and the Knights Templar although their official headquarters is nearby in the village of Temple. What lies behind the famous Prentice Pillar? The popular myth has it that the master mason who intended to carve the centrepiece pillar went to Rome. On his return, he found his apprentice had completed the work in magnificent style. He was so furious he killed the apprentice, hence the name of the pillar. However, it’s more likey it was carved by a tradesman from a firm of stonemasons called Prentys and Sutton. Who is the leering green man engraved more than 120 times in the chapel? Carvings of a bearded green man appear in many religious settings in much of the world, but few have as many as Rosslyn. There are many theories about who the green man was. Some say it was either John the Baptist or Hercules. He is depicted as a Robin Hood-type figure, sometimes alternatively named Jack-in-the-green or Jack-in- the-Tree. He also may have been Celtic fertility god or a tree spirit. Who is the man with the gash on his head? Rumour suggests that he might be the smited apprentice of pillar fame. However, he could also be Freemasonry’s legendary figure, Hiram Abiff, the martyred architect of King Solomon’s Temple. Academic symbologists say it could just as easily express a classic archetype of sacrifice and rebirth. What is the chapel’s link with Freemasons? Apparently Sir William St Clair claimed patronage of the masons – a link passed and strengthened through the generations and evidenced in two seventeenth century charters. In 1736, Sir William Sinclair became the first Scottish Grand Master at the Grand Lodge of Scotland in Edinburgh.